THIS month could mark a significant time stamp for beaches in the southwest as it is believed the lowest tides we have seen this year "may never be seen again."

According to a 2022 report by the Met Office, sea levels are rising "much faster than expected."

With this in mind, coastal engineers are predicting very low tides in the UK later may be the lowest anyone will see again.

Coastal engineer Hamish Hall from Moffatt & Nichol explained that "exceptionally low tides are caused by an unusual series of events".

A low spring tide is caused by the position of the moon and the sun.

Ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon. Where oceans face the Moon the water builds up creating a high tide.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Earth is pulled towards the moon more than the ocean is, which in theory creates a high tide as well.

As the moon moves around with the planet, the tides move with it.

The Met Office say sea levels are now rising by 3-5.2mm (0.1-0.2in) a year, more than double the rate of increase in the early part of last century.

At Exmouth Beach, data from the Met Office shows sea levels are projected to rise by nearly 0.5m from 2015 to 2063.

People have been warned that walking around a beach with extremely low tides "puts them in danger."

There is a risk of debris or litter not being able to be seen that could cut you as you are at the beach.

Joanne Williams is a sea level researcher at the National Oceanography Centre, she believes there are multiple reasons due to lower tides.

Joanne said: "Changes in tides could also be affected by weather and sea swell.

"Such a low tide might happen again but it will be less and less often that it gets down to these levels."