Formation-
·
It formed when wet, tropical air and cold air
from the poles met in the Bay of Biscay (North of Spain and West of France).
·
Due to a steep temperature gradient and high sea
surface temperatures the depression deepened rapidly.
·
Due to the polar front jet stream (PFJS) being
more southerly than usual the storm hit south Britain and France rather than
northern Scotland.
·
The pressure in the depression fell lower than
usual (average is 1013 mb and this depression had low pressure of 953 mb). This
created higher winds.
·
Winds reached speeds of 115mph
Social impacts -
·
18 people died in Britain , 4 in France
·
150,000 households without telephone
communication
·
Gatwick was at a standstill
·
Road, rail and air networks stopped
Economic impacts-
·
Cost the insurance industry over £2 billion
·
Destruction costs over £1 billion
·
Boats were wrecked and beached
Environmental impacts-
·
Sevenoaks was reduced down to one oak
·
Some areas lost 97% of their trees
·
15 million trees fell down ( which was good for
the growth of some vegetation)
Responses -
·
1 in 6 households in the South East of England
made insurance claims
·
It took 2 years for forestry workers to collect
40 million m³ of timber
·
The government set up the National Severe
Weather Warning Service (NSWWS)
The NSWWS was set up to protect life by alerting the public of necessary preparations
for a weather event. It was set up by the UK MET office and it sends out warnings
(issued up to 24 hours ahead), alerts (issued out more than 24 hours ahead) and
information of what to do when they are given. The warnings are for fog, ice,
snow, rain and wind and the severity of the warning is based on a combination
of the likelihood of the event and the possible impact.
An air mass is a large body of air with the same temperature , humidity and pressure throughout. The British Isles is affected by 5 types of air masses.