Late Middle Ages · Europe · Disaster

1362

St. Marcellus's Flood drowns the German coast

January 1362

A North Sea storm surge breached dikes from Frisia to Jutland, drowning entire parishes and reshaping the coastline overnight. The lost city of Rungholt, of later legend, vanished beneath the sea. Tens of thousands died. Northern Europe was learning that a warming climate's end brought stormier weather.