In light of the weather warnings in place for tomorrow, due to Storm Ciaran, we have taken the decision to close Minsmere for the day.
All visitor facilities, including the car park, hides, nature trails and visitor centre will be closed all day on Thursday 2 November. This is to ensure the safety of all our staff and visitors, with gale force winds and more rain forecast.
We plan to re-open, as normal, from 9 am on Friday 3 November.
Please note, too, that large parts of the reserve remain underwater following the unprecedented rainfall during the recent Storm Babet. There is no access at all between South Belt Crossroads and the Sluice as that track remains submerged, making it impossible to see where the path edges are. In fact, the path is so deep that South Hide has also been flooded, as you can see from these photos.
There is still access to North and East Hide, and via the dunes to the Public Viewing Platform and South Levels. Bittern Hide and Canopy Hide remain open, but Island Mere Hide is only accessible with wellingtons, at the moment.
Also, once the reserve does re-open we recommend arriving via Westleton as the Eastbridge road is badly flooded and likely to get worse before it gets better.
Stay safe.