Storm Ciaran nearly swept an assumed tourist into the sea as she attempted to take a selfie with a dramatic background.
Cameras caught the moment a woman stood with her back to the sea on East Pier in Whitby, North Yorkshire, and held her phone up to her face while ferocious waves crashed against the coast.
Videos circulating on social media showed one wave leaping from the sea and catching her unawares, sweeping her off her feet.
She was drenched in seawater, knocked to her knees and nearly pulled into the bay.
But she managed to escape seemingly unscathed just metres from the pier’s edge, with shocked onlookers calling her an “idiot”.
One video posted to TikTok showed the girl striding confidently onto the pier, with onlookers watching from a nearby grassy knoll.
As she nears the centre and readies her phone, a woman can be heard saying “she’s walking on it. Idiot.” in the background, with children yelling over the sound of crashing waves.
When she takes a photo and walks back, the wave catches her legs, and she briefly falls to the ground before picking herself back up.
The fall elicited several additional reactions from people watching on the sidelines, with a man saying: “Well that was silly weren’t it.”
Other people respond with “wow”, and another person can be heard saying “what an idiot” in the background.
The video ends with coastguard personnel rushing down to the sea while a man – seemingly the girl’s partner – receives her at the other end of the platform, seawater rushing between their feet.
The coastguard has responded to the shock footage by advising people it is “not worth risking your life for a picture”.
Steve Hart, senior operations officer for HM Coastguard, told the Daily Mail: “Our advice is if there is a storm weather warning in place and if you don’t need to travel, just stay in.”
“It’s not worth risking your life for a picture or a selfie and it’s not worth risking our volunteer’s lives either, who would potentially have to go out on a rescue and pull you out of the water.
“The weather is going to be bad over the next couple of days. If there’s no need to travel or to go near the coast, just stay in.
“Keep away from the water’s edge and keep away from any flood water.
“It only takes 12 inches to float a car, and to float yourself away.”
