The Great Gale of 1871 was a severe storm

European windstorm

A European windstorm is a severe cyclonic windstorm associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe. They are most common in the winter months...

 in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 which struck the north east coast of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 on Friday 10 February 1871.

Shipping near the town of Bridlington

Bridlington

Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...

 was severely affected by the storm, and, in an attempt to rescue seamen, the RNLI

Royal National Lifeboat Institution

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

lifeboat RNLB Robert Whitworth was put out of action and the fishermans lifeboat Harbinger upturned with nine locals on board, killing six of them.

A memorial obelisk in Bridlington Priory Churchyard commemorates 43 burials there.

28 ships were wrecked on the north east coast, and total fatalities are estimated at over 50.