The Bristol Channel floods of 30 January 1607 drowned many people and destroyed a large amount of farmland and livestock. The known tide heights, probable weather, extent and depth of flooding, and coastal flooding elsewhere in the UK on the same day all point to the cause being a storm surge rather than a tsunami.

The Bristol Channel (Welsh: Môr Hafren, pronounced [moːr ˈhavrɛn]) is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn (Welsh: Afon Hafren) to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city of Bristol, and is over 30 miles (50 km) wide at its western limit.

Long stretches of both sides of the coastline are designated as Heritage Coast. These include Exmoor, Bideford Bay, the Hartland Point peninsula, Lundy Island, Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Carmarthenshire, South Pembrokeshire and Caldey Island.

Until Tudor times the Bristol Channel was known as the Severn Sea, and it is still known as this in both Welsh: Môr Hafren and Cornish: Mor Havren.