European windstorm

 

Satellite picture of a European windstorm located near Iceland

European windstorm is a name given to the strongest Extratropical cyclones. They form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic Ocean towards western Europe. They are most common in the winter months. On average, the month when most windstorms form is January. The seasonal average is 4.6 windstorms. Deep low pressure areas are relatively common over the North Atlantic, sometimes starting as nor'easters off the New England coast, and frequently track past the north coasts of the British Isles and into the Norwegian Sea. However, when they veer south they can affect almost any country in Europe. Commonly-affected countries include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, but any country in central, northern and especially western Europe is occasionally struck by such a storm system.

These storms cause economic damage of €1.9 billion per year, and insurance losses of €1.4 billion per year (1990–1998). They rank as the second highest cause of global natural catastrophe insurance loss (after U.S. hurricanes).

Names

Up to the second half of the 19th century, European windstorms were named after the person who spotted it. Usually, they would be named either by the year, the date, the Saint's day of their occurrence or any other way that made them commonly known. This has meant that the same storm could be named differently from one country to another.

Inspired by the practice of the U.S. National Weather Service to assign names to hurricanes and typhoons, a student at the Free University of Berlin (FU), Karla Wege, suggested in 1954 that all high- and low-pressure systems affecting Europe should be given names in order to make tracking the systems simpler. Lows were given female names and highs male names. This practice was soon adopted by the German media.

In 1998, the system changed to alternating male and female names for highs and lows each year. In November 2002, the Adopt-a-Vortex scheme was started, which allows members of the public to buy names that will then be assigned to storms during each year. The money raised by this is used by the meteorology department to maintain weather observations at the FU.

The FU names became gradually known across Europe through the media. Even though these are not sanctioned by any official organizations, like the World Meteorological Organization, they are commonly used. However, a storm may still be named differently in different country. For instance, the Norwegian weather service also names independently notable storms that affect Norway.

Several European languages use the word Ouragan or cognates thereof (Huragan, Orcan, Orkan) to indicate particularly strong European windstorms. This is not in reference to the tropical cyclone of the same name but to the Hurricane strength of the wind in the Beaufort scale (winds ≥ 118 km/h or ≥ 73 mph).

Temporal clustering of windstorm events has also been noted, with 8 consecutive storms hitting Europe during the winter of 1989/90. Lothar and Martin in 1999 were separated only by 36 hours. Kyrill in 2007 following only four days after Hanno, and 2008 with Johanna, Kirsten and Emma. In 2011, Xaver (Berit) moved across Northern Europe and just a day later another storm, named Yoda, hit the same area. In December the same year, Friedhelm, Hergen, Joachim and Oliver/Patrick (Cato/Dagmar) struck northern Europe.

Notable windstorms

Further information: List of European windstorms

Historic windstorms

• Grote Mandrenke, 1362 – A southwesterly Atlantic gale swept across England, the Netherlands, northern Germany and southern Denmark, killing over 25,000 and changing the Dutch-German-Danish coastline.
• Burchardi Flood, 1634 – Also known as "second Grote Mandrenke", hit Nordfriesland, drowned about 8,000–15,000 people and destroyed the island of Strand.
• Great Storm of 1703 – Severe gales affect south coast of England.
• Night of the Big Wind, 1839 – The most severe windstorm to hit Ireland in recent centuries, with hurricane force winds, killed between 250 and 300 people and rendered hundreds of thousands of homes uninhabitable.
• The Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879 – Severe gales (estimated to be Force 10–11) swept the east coast of Scotland, infamously resulting in the collapse of the Tay Rail Bridge and the loss of 75 people who were on board the ill-fated train.
• Eyemouth Disaster, 1881 – A severe storm struck the southeast coast of Scotland. 189 fishermen were killed, most of whom were from the small village of Eyemouth.

Notable storms since 1900

• North Sea flood of 1953 – Considered to be the worst natural disaster of the 20th century both in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, claiming over two thousand lives altogether.
• North Sea flood of 1962 – The Storm reached the German coast of the North Sea with wind speeds up to 200 km/h. The accompanied storm surge combined with high tide pushed water up the Weser and Elbe, breaching dikes and caused extensive flooding, especially in Hamburg. 315 people were killed, around 60,000 were left homeless.
• Great Storm of 1987 – This storm affected southeastern England and northern France. In England maximum mean wind speeds of 70 knots (an average over 10 minutes) were recorded. The highest gust of 117 knots (217 km/h) was recorded at Pointe du Raz in Brittany. In all, 19 people were killed in England and 4 in France. 15 million trees were uprooted in England.
• Burns' Day storm (Daria), 1990 – Widespread severe gales in the United Kingdom, France, the Benelux countries, and Germany. Isolated gusts of over 45 m/s were recorded, causing extensive structural damage.
• Lothar, Martin, 1999 – France, Switzerland and Germany were hit by severe storms and rain. Over 100 people were killed, and the storm caused extensive damage to property and trees and the French and German national power grids, including an emergency due to flooding at the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant.
• Erwin (Gudrun), 2005 – Northern Europe was hit by the storm Erwin (German weather service), also called Gudrun by the Norwegian weather service, with sustained wind speeds of 126 km/h and wind gusts of 165 km/h. About 341,000 homes lost power in Sweden and several thousand of these were out of power for many days and even weeks; about 10,000 homes were still without power after three weeks. The international death toll was at least 17. Just days after, another storm, named Gero, hit the same area.
• Kyrill, 2007 – Storm warnings were given for many countries in western, central and northern Europe with severe storm warnings for some areas. At least 53 people were killed in northern and central Europe, causing travel chaos across the region.
• Xynthia, 2010 – A severe windstorm which was generated close to Madeira and from there moved across to the Canary Islands, then Portugal and much of western and northern Spain, before moving on to hit western and south-western France. The highest gust speeds recorded as of midnight were at approx. 2130h at Alto de Orduña (228 km/h/ 142 mph). 50 people have been reported to have died.[1]

Cyclone Ulli near peak intensity in the North Sea

• Ulli (Emil), 2012 – A weak low pressure system formed over the Mid-west of the United States on 30 December 2011. This low moved into the Atlantic Ocean the next day and was named Ulli by the FU-Berlin. On 2 January, the United Kingdom's Met Office began issuing weather warnings for most of the country. Blizzard warnings were issued for northern Scotland, while a heavy rain advisory was issued for southern England. SkyWarn UK also issued their first Particularly Dangerous Situation warning of the year, along with a severe weather warning. The storm rapidly deepened 9 millibars in just less than six hours. One person was killed after an oak tree fell on his car, and a crewman was killed as a large wave hit a merchant vessel in the English Channel.

See also

Wind scales

• Beaufort scale (10–12+)
• Fujita scale
• Saffir-Simpson scale

Severe weather

• Extratropical cyclone
  • Nor'easter
  • Pacific Northwest Storms

Localized windstorms within Europe

• Foehn
• Bora (wind)

External links

• Free University of Berlin low-pressure naming lists