Thousands fooled by ‘Abergavenny’ giant waves hoax

As Storm Eunice ravaged parts of the UK yesterday, social media was the place to be for the latest updates on conditions around the country.

Coastlines were beset with giant waves and the weather was hazardous in areas with a red Met office warning.

Spare a thought then for the poor residents of Abergavenny who, if one picture posted on the internet was to be believed, were being pounded by giant waves.

Yes, that’s the Welsh landlocked town of Abergavenny, some 20-30 miles from the coast.

Don’t believe everything you read or see on the internet is usually good advice but that didn’t stop Twitter user @TufferB – whose Abergavenny giant waves tweet fooled thousands into believing that Storm Eunice was so strong it had displaced the market town with some impressive erosion to the shoreline.

Amazing scenes here in Abergavenny this morning. pic.twitter.com/inb79WjQ4P

— Tuffer (@TufferB) February 18, 2022

When the joker posted his tweet yesterday proclaiming ‘Amazing scenes here in Abergavenny this morning’, he possibly didn’t expect that many people with a rudimentary knowledge of Welsh geography to be taken in by his post.

However, that wasn’t the case as thousands replied to his tweet with comments such as ‘Wow, that’s incredible’, ‘I hope the people of Abergavenny are safe’, and ‘Why are people driving there when waves are that big’.

Not everybody was suckered in, of course. Many also played along and others were quick to point out the topographical impossibility of such a phenomenon giving the picture was in fact of Sennen Cove in Cornwall.

10,000 likes for a town thats not on the coast.
The dangers of twitter!!
People believe anything!! #Eunice https://t.co/Cm7bHOQw5V

— Stephen Glover (@Stafford_SteveG) February 19, 2022

The moral of this story is of course – check your map before you believe a giant waves tweet!