Supertide of the century

By Chris Kitching for MailOnline

Supertide of the century: Thousands of tourists descend on French city of Mont Saint-Michel to witness spectacular event sparked by the solar eclipse

• Experts said the wall of water could equal the height of a four-storey building and surge faster than a ‘running man’
• A tidal expert told French media that the surge was a few inches short of expectations
• Massive tide occurs due to the gravitation pull created by the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth
• Incredible aerial photos show the picturesque landmark off the coast of Normandy cut off from the mainland
• Similar tides are expected along the coasts of Britain, the Netherlands and Canada this weekend
• The last ‘tide of the century’ occurred on March 10, 1997 and the next will take place in March 2033

Tens of thousands of curious visitors have crowded historic Mont Saint-Michel and other beauty spots along the French coastline with the promise of a ‘tide of the century’, but it may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations. Anticipating a wall of water that could equal the height of a four-storey building, tourists and locals staked out positions around the picturesque landmark last night and again today, including the partially-washed out causeway as the tide retreated. They travelled to France’s northern coast for the first giant tide of the millennium, with experts predicting that it could reach as high as 46ft – 18ft above normal – thanks to the effects from yesterday’s spectacular solar eclipse.

Parts of the coast are on high alert and France’s Navy Oceanic and Hydrological Service has urged people not to venture out too far

But tidal specialist Nicolas Pouvreau told France 24 the surge was a few inches short of expectations. Mont Saint-Michel was briefly turned into an island at high tide, but low tide provided an opportunity for people to walk on the expansive flat seabed. Although it is dubbed the ‘tide of the century’, the ‘supertide’ phenomenon occurs once every 18 years when a rare alignment of the sun, moon and Earth create a massive gravitational pull on the sea. On each occasion, Mont Saint-Michel provides a stunning setting for those looking to watch the phenomenon.

Perched on a rocky island, the Unesco World Heritage Site is exposed to some of the most powerful tides in the world, pictured is Mont Saint-Michel during low tide

See more pictures : Supertide of the century

Runaway jihadi took two-year-old son to ISIS warzone: She returned to Syria despite MI5 being in regular contact

Chris Greenwood And Inderdeep Bains For The Daily Mail

Wedding day: Jamila Henry with her estranged husband, whose identity is being protected

• Jamila Henry, 21, fled to Syria last year with her one-year-old son
• When she returned she was repeatedly interviewed by MI5, relative says
• But last year she managed to fly to Turkey using passport stolen from her ‘party girl’ twin sister Jalila
• She was stopped at the Syrian border and arrested on her return to the UK

The jihadi twin caught trying to enter Syria had already had a seven-month stay there with her toddler son, it emerged yesterday.

Jamila Henry, 21, lived with two-year-old Mustafa in the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa until just before Christmas.

She came back to Britain to leave him with family before trying to return to Syria. On Monday Turkish police picked her up in the capital Ankara.

Henry managed to flee the UK for a second time despite being on the radar of MI5, whose agents tried to recruit her.
They interviewed her, gave her a smartphone and repeatedly contacted her. But, under their noses, she was able to steal her glamorous identical twin’s passport and head back to the conflict zone.

The astonishing lapse comes weeks after it emerged that Mohammed Emwazi – the Islamic State butcher called Jihadi John – was known to the security services for five years and they had tried to recruit him too.

Despite being classed as a priority target, Emwazi managed to travel to the Middle East and start his reign of terror in Syria. Michael Adebolajo, one of the killers of Lee Rigby in Woolwich, was also courted by MI5.

Last night, a friend of the Henry family lashed out at ‘bumbling’ MI5 officers, accusing them of trying to cover up their mistakes.

‘They are a joke,’ said the source. ‘They keep calling everyone to find out what happened and telling them what they should and shouldn’t say to people.

They were all over the family for months after Jamila came back but were left whistling in the wind when she disappeared again.’

Read more: Runaway jihadi…