Huthnance Estuarine Coastal Mar. Sci. 1973, 1, 89-99 is reviewed, whereby an oscillating tide over bathymetric features induces a mean flow generally along isobaths. The effect is a superposition of Coriolis and frictional processes. These are discussed with the intention of elucidating the processes for a more general readership. Induced velocities of order several are expected around the UK shelf seas. The effect is dynamically significant over bathymetric scales of order a few kilometres and has previously been of most interest to dynamicists studying processes on this scale. However, with the increase in computing power, appropriate scales can be simulated in shelf-wide regional models and in next generation operational models. It is demonstrated that this small-scale effect is likely to be important for shelf-wide regional models and that a spatial resolution of at least 1.8 km is recommended for shelf sea simulations.