The great storm of 1987

 

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.