Top 10 wind storms

[TwisterGirl81]

1 hour ago, lassie23 said:

2013/2014 was the worst winter ever

I loved it, plenty of windstorms

[lassie23]

15 minutes ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

I loved it, plenty of windstorms

I should have know from the name that you like wind storms.....DOH

[mike57]

Christmas 1997 and 1998 windstorms, I was living in rural North Yorkshire at the time, and power was off on both occasions, I think 1997 was Christmas Day and 1998 was Boxing day, but I could be wrong. We have a small diesel genny, and I remember trying to fill outside in the howling gale, pouring the diesel out of a jerry can resulted in most of it going over me and the surrounding countryside. It was actually hard to stand outside. A funnel was appropriated from the kitchen, and I finally managed to fill it. The funnel was donated to the task owing to 'it stinks of diesel', then a rerun I think the following Boxing day, and again Xmas day again in the early 2000's. To be fair our power supply was very precarious, we would get significant power cuts most winters. We reached the point where Mrs had asked that I fit the genny with an electric start, but we moved and power supply here is more reliable.

 

More recently we had a bad gale at the coast on 9th Feb 2020, quite a bit of damage in the village, tiles off, TV aerials destroyed, fences  and trees down, I would estimate 75-80mph gusts for a short period as a squall went through, but only a very narrow strip down the coast was affected. Storm Arwen also has to be up there, worse here than the 2013/4 storms, it wasn't just the intensity, but the longevity and unusual direction that made Storm Arwen notable.

[Norrance]

On 01/12/2021 at 20:46, Sawel said:

Fraserburgh recorded a gust of 142mph during this storm...this is by far the fastest gust ever recorded in the UK (away from mountains).

I wasn't living in Scotland at the time but it must have been devastating in the NE of Scotland.

 

I was working just down the road in Peterhead at that time. Remember the water going right over the breakwaters at the harbour from the landwards side. If I recall correctly there were gales recorded something like 30 days in a row that month in Peterhead. 

[A Face like Thunder]

17 hours ago, mike57 said:

Christmas 1997 and 1998 windstorms, I was living in rural North Yorkshire at the time, and power was off on both occasions, I think 1997 was Christmas Day and 1998 was Boxing day, but I could be wrong. We have a small diesel genny, and I remember trying to fill outside in the howling gale, pouring the diesel out of a jerry can resulted in most of it going over me and the surrounding countryside. It was actually hard to stand outside. A funnel was appropriated from the kitchen, and I finally managed to fill it. The funnel was donated to the task owing to 'it stinks of diesel', then a rerun I think the following Boxing day, and again Xmas day again in the early 2000's. To be fair our power supply was very precarious, we would get significant power cuts most winters. We reached the point where Mrs had asked that I fit the genny with an electric start, but we moved and power supply here is more reliable.

 

More recently we had a bad gale at the coast on 9th Feb 2020, quite a bit of damage in the village, tiles off, TV aerials destroyed, fences  and trees down, I would estimate 75-80mph gusts for a short period as a squall went through, but only a very narrow strip down the coast was affected. Storm Arwen also has to be up there, worse here than the 2013/4 storms, it wasn't just the intensity, but the longevity and unusual direction that made Storm Arwen notable.

Nice post, thanks mike57. I don't particularly remember 1998 or 2020, but in 1997, I was living in a village near Lancaster and had to travel to Blackpool on the evening of Christmas Eve. The M6 was frightening, such that I came back on the A6 and came across a bad accident when a car ran into a fallen tree. I was fortunate that I was travelling south on Christmas Day, but I left the neighbours hoping the electricity would come back on in time for a late Christmas lunch as well as picking up the remnants of their garden fences! 

[Cheshire Freeze]

On 29/11/2021 at 09:11, A Face like Thunder said:

Nice post, thank you summer8906. Totally agree on 1987 and 1990 as Nos 1 and 2. Unlike 1990, the 'Great Storm' of 1987 was relatively localised and I just happened to be in the firing line in S London. Ditto my 3rd choice - Christmas Eve 1997 - when I was living near Lancaster and the wind brought Christmas misery to many in the NW and N Wales. Also (equal 3rd) 18th January 2007, by which time I was living in my current location in Cheshire, and the afternoon gale was the strongest I've encountered in this area. Philip Eden has this gale as a case study in his very good book, Great British Weather Disasters. The wind of 12th February 2014 was fairly short-lived but is remembered by many locals because it brought the power lines down at Crewe station and the roof then caught fire as the wires short-circuited on the roof.  

I remember Jan 2007. Those winds were ferocious and I can remember trees being bent right over by the gusts.

2014 there was a constant roar for a while, like a jet engine nearby, those winds were pretty potent too.

[Cheshire Freeze]

On 07/12/2021 at 22:13, Summer of 95 said:

1) 17 Nov 2016. Absolute mayhem for 10 minutes, Shawbury had a gust of 84mph and it might well have been more here as higher and more exposed. Trees down, tiles down, some had windows blown out, and 10 miles north and south hardly anything.

2) 30-31 Jan 2002 (may have been a few days either side). Big trees down, flooding and hardly remembered.

3) Mid-Feb 2014, power cuts and trees down on the roads, the height of that "winter" of endless wind and rain

4) Storm Arwen, it was up there for causing damage and had that evil sting in the tail of producing rain all over Shropshire even 200m high while it gave snow all over W Mids/Staffs/Cheshire etc

5) 20 Mar 2004. Not really forecast but it was a real blaster. All day sustained 40mph wind

 

There was a potent little wind storm some time early 2000s in October (possibly ‘02) Don’t know if you can recall it but I remember it knocking the power out and it ripped a corrugated metal shed roof off the neighbour’s shed.

Pretty sure a storm moved across S UK with severe NWlys on its flank.

[Weather-history]

I can easily name top 2 gales, IMO, to hit my area that I can recall

18th January 2007, Christmas Eve 1997

 

Boxing Day 1998 

I thought 26th February 1990 was worse than 25th January 1990.

20th March 2004 was pretty hairy. 

23rd January 1993 was pretty intense, there were some real potent gales that January that hit Scotland especially.

9th/10th February 1988 gale was notable

[Weather-history]

Barton Airport, which is only a couple of miles, away from me recorded a gust of 92mph on 4th October 1938, according to the Guardian of the time. That's some gust for an inland site.

[Terminal Moraine]

The first four, in order of severity, are fairly straightforward for my locality, after that there are numerous gales which caused small or moderate amounts of damage but which were all of  similar strength.

1. February 16th 1962. The most severe gale I've experienced by some margin. Huge amounts of tree and property damage locally.

2. January 2nd 1976. Hundreds of trees felled locally and widespread damage to property.

3. January 25th 1990. I had an anemometer by this time and recorded a gust of 95 mph at 340 mts a.s.l on the moor behind my house.

4. January 23rd 1993. A gust of 93 mph at 340 mts a.s.l

After that in approximate order of severity

5. January 18th 2007. Gust of 92 mph at 340 mts

6. January 20th 2005  Gust of 90 mph at 340 mts

7. January 5th 2012 Gust of 89 mph at  340 mts

8. December 5th 2013 Gust of 87 mph at 340 mts

9. November 3rd 1957. No idea of the gust strengths but I remember a lot of tree and roof damage in the area

10. July 29th 1956. Wind speeds not as high as the winter gales but gusts well into the high 60s according to local stations. With all the trees in full leaf I remember  the roads were full of branches, sticks, leaves and fallen trees.

[A Face like Thunder]

Thanks Terminal Moraine. The storm of 5th December 2013 was called Storm Xaver and caused the worst storm surge in the North Sea since January 1953. And whilst the N Yorkshire area got off  fairly lightly in 1953, the same did not apply in 2013, with flooding at Whitby, Saltburn and other NY coastal towns.

[Summer8906]

On 12/12/2021 at 05:51, CreweCold said:

There was a potent little wind storm some time early 2000s in October (possibly ‘02) Don’t know if you can recall it but I remember it knocking the power out and it ripped a corrugated metal shed roof off the neighbour’s shed.

Pretty sure a storm moved across S UK with severe NWlys on its flank.

This was possibly one of the two I mentioned in the original post, late Oct 2000 or late Oct 2002. Both were the final weekends of the respective months. The former was a very major storm with heavy rain on the Sunday evening and severe winds following, which even brought brief snow to lowland northern England.

The latter came through on a Saturday night and Sunday, and had less rain (and the rain that did fall came through overnight) but very strong and persistent winds on the Sunday, it was enough, if I recall correctly, to force all trains through the New Forest to be replaced by buses. Like the Burns storm the strongest winds - on the Sunday - were accompanied by dry weather.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

Maybe an honourable mention also to Saturday, 25 January 2014 - yet another event in perhaps the stormiest winter of my lifetime.

Not really a full-on storm, but there was a brief and severe cold front or trough that came through late afternoon, around sunset which by that time of year would have been later than now, around 16:45 or so. I was on the Surrey hills at the time.

The Saturday morning had been unusually benign for that winter, mild but bright with low humidity. However as the day progressed cloud gathered to the west but for a good while it looked no different to a standard frontal approach. It turned cloudy perhaps around 14:00, which might imply that any rain would not arrive until well after dark.

However around perhaps 16:15 to 16:30 it became very dark to the northwest, and this advanced very rapidly. Nonetheless, even before it struck, brightness behind the darkness started becoming visible implying a very narrow line of weather. The trough/front came through where I was (high on the Surrey hills but in an open area) around 16:45 and was moderately alarming, but I didn't really feel in any danger. Things were blowing around a lot though. It was accompanied by a brief heavy shower.

It then departed as quickly as it came, and the clouds cleared rapidly bringing a benign twilight period.

It was only later, when I heard of the widespread transport disruption as a result, that I realised what an event it had been...

Edited December 13, 2021 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

57 minutes ago, A Face like Thunder said:

Thanks Terminal Moraine. The storm of 5th December 2013 was called Storm Xaver and caused the worst storm surge in the North Sea since January 1953. And whilst the N Yorkshire area got off  fairly lightly in 1953, the same did not apply in 2013, with flooding at Whitby, Saltburn and other NY coastal towns.

 

Wasn't that the original 'weather bomb'? I do recall, before the exceedingly wet and stormy winter of 13/14 really got going on Friday 13th (yes, really), there was a big storm that affected northern and eastern areas though we missed it here. I am pretty sure I heard 'weather bomb' first used in an early December northerly storm sometime around then. I think a similar northerly storm on a very similar date also occurred early in December 2017 so it might have been that one, but I think it was more likely 2013.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

On 10/12/2021 at 09:03, A Face like Thunder said:

Nice post, thanks mike57. I don't particularly remember 1998 or 2020, but in 1997, I was living in a village near Lancaster and had to travel to Blackpool on the evening of Christmas Eve. The M6 was frightening, such that I came back on the A6 and came across a bad accident when a car ran into a fallen tree. I was fortunate that I was travelling south on Christmas Day, but I left the neighbours hoping the electricity would come back on in time for a late Christmas lunch as well as picking up the remnants of their garden fences! 

25 years ago today and remembered as if it were yesterday!

One of three wind events that I recall since moving to the NW of England in 1989, the others being the Burns Day gale of 25th January 1990 (Blackpool) and 18th January 2007 (S Cheshire).