The sea breaking over the cliff at Tynemouth during the gale on Saturday, the 2nd November, 1861. Engraving ...from a sketch taken on the deck of the Lifeguard, weatherbound in Shields harbour...The storm...was circuitous or cyclonic; its centrical area was in the North Sea, off Yorkshire...The coasts of Northumberland and Durham felt the force of the storm on Friday night...a letter from Shields, written on Saturday, says: "Last night a fearful gale of wind, accompanied by blinding showers of rain and sleet and lightning, broke over the Northumberland coast from the north-east, and raged with awful fury until long past daylight this morning. The sea also rose with the gale, and at daybreak was white with foam as far as the eye could reach. It was an anxious night in our seaports. A large fleet of deeply-laden colliers sailed from the Tyne and other ports yesterday afternoon...Fortunately the wind continued to blow from the northward, and the fleet is clear of the coast. The sea, which has broken with awful fury over the piers, has done a very considerable amount of damage...". From "Illustrated London News", 1861.