Sonali Tiwary
International headlines reporting “part of the famous Brighton pier” has collapsed have caused widespread confusion. The pier that partially collapsed was the West Pier—a derelict Victorian structure that has stood as a rusted skeleton since fires in 2003—and the storm was Austen, which passed the Sussex coast on Friday October 23, not the later Storm Boelo. The working Brighton Palace Pier, where visitors walk and play, was not affected.
A section of the West Pier fell into the sea during Storm Austen on Friday October 23, 2026, according to local reports from Brighton. The West Pier Trust confirmed the ruin is in a state of active collapse and has been for three decades. The Brighton Palace Pier, the operating visitor pier at the eastern end of the seafront, was separate from the incident.
The West Pier was built in 1866 and was the first pier in England to receive Grade I listed status. It closed to the public in 1975 following structural problems. Fires in 2003 destroyed its pavilion and further damaged the deck. Since then the West Pier has stood as a rusted iron framework, documented in annual condition surveys.
The confusion matters for anyone planning to visit Brighton. AP’s wire report used the phrase “part of famous Brighton pier collapses”—technically accurate in the sense that the West Pier is historically famous—but easily misread as referring to the active Palace Pier that millions of visitors use each year. The Palace Pier remains open.
The West Pier’s history and the naming confusion
The West Pier Trust has campaigned for decades for the pier’s restoration. The trust has noted that the structure has been in active deterioration for years, and that storm damage has caused previous partial collapses of sections before this incident.
Storm Austen brought strong winds to the Sussex coast on Friday before weakening, echoing the kind of coastal storm surge risk covered in previous coastal flood advisories. Further high winds from Storm Boelo were forecast to follow over the weekend. The West Pier ruin is located at the western end of Brighton’s seafront.
The naming confusion is partly structural: both are referred to as Brighton piers, both are historic, and the West Pier’s rusted skeleton is as photographed as the Palace Pier’s illuminated facade. Any further deterioration of the West Pier will produce the same headline ambiguity.
Brighton Palace Pier remains open. A further section of the West Pier—the derelict 1866 iron structure at the western end of the seafront—fell into the sea during Storm Austen on Friday October 23. Historic England has not yet confirmed the extent of the damage or any implications for the Grade I listing.
