Met Office

Amber warning of wind, 11 and 12 November 2010

The example below details an event that happened in southern Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and north Wales. It would have generated an amber warning of wind with the new warning service.

Wind Warning Amber Weather situation on 11 November 2010

Weather

A very deep area of low pressure brought severe gale force winds and heavy rain to much of the UK overnight from 11 to 12 November. The highest winds were across north Wales, Northern Ireland, northern England and southern Scotland, and resulted in damage and disruption.

The highest gusts recorded on 11 November 2010 included:

Aberdaron, Gwynedd  81mph (70kn)   
Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight      79mph (69kn)
High Bradfield, South Yorkshire  78mph (68kn)
Lake Vyrnwy, Powys  78mph (68kn)
Winter Hill, Lancashire  77mph (67kn)
St Bees Head, Cumbria  75mph (65kn)
Blackpool Squires Gate, Lancashire  74mph (64kn)
Ronaldsway, Isle of Man  73mph (63kn)
Mumbles Head, West Glamorgan  73mph (63kn)
Walney Island, Cumbria  70mph (61kn)
St Angelo, County Fermanagh  70mph (61kn)

A key difference between this and the strong winds that affected England and Wales on 18 January 2007 (LINK TO RED EVENT) was the timing. The strongest gusts during this event occurred during the evening and overnight. This would be one of the factors taken into consideration when assessing the impact. As such, on this occasion amber impacts would be more appropriate than red.

Impacts

A tree blown over in the wind A tree blown over in the wind

  • In Yorkshire, one person died when a tree fell on a car.
  • Flights were disrupted from Leeds-Bradford and Manchester Airports with some inbound flights being diverted after attempts to land failed.
  • In Northern Ireland, high winds brought down power lines to leave approximately 6,000 homes without power.
  • In Scotland, high winds and heavy rain caused hazardous driving conditions on the roads and a number of ferry services were cancelled.
  • High winds also caused damage and disruption across Wales and there were reports of some fallen trees in Cornwall.
  • Drivers of high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorbikes were meanwhile advised to take extra care when traveling due to the increased risk of vehicles being blown over.

Warning Assessment

Based on the new warning system the following assessments would have been made:

  • Likelihood - high
  • Impact - medium

This would have resulted in an amber warning for wind:

Amber warning

Last Updated: 26 March 2012

Get updates