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- Red warning of wind, 18 January 2007
Red warning of wind, 18 January 2007
The example below details an event that happened across England and Wales. It would have generated a red warning of wind with the new warnings service.
Weather situation on 18 January 2007
Weather
A deep area of low pressure moved quickly across the north of the UK during the day. Very strong winds on its southern side brought damaging gusts to much of England and Wales during the afternoon.
Highest gusts during the afternoon of 18 January included:
| Capel Curig (Conwy) | 100mph (87kn) |
| Needles Old Battery (Hampshire) | 99mph (86kn) |
| Crosby (Merseyside) | 84mph (73kn) |
| Aberdaron (Gwynedd) | 82mph (71kn) |
| Blackpool Squires Gate (Lancashire) | 82mph (71kn) |
| Rhyl (Denbighshire) | 82mph (71kn) |
| Conningsby (Lincolnshire) | 81mph (70kn) |
| Marham (Norfolk) | 78mph (68kn) |
| Wittering (Cambridgeshire) | 78mph (68kn) |
| Heathrow (London) | 77mph (67kn) |
The timing of this weather event, during the day when many people were out at work and school, meant that this had the potential to be a dangerous and life-threatening winter storm. Sadly, this turned out to be the case.
Impacts
A car crushed by a tree
- Nine people died across Britain as the weather system moved across the country.
- Damage to the electricity infrastructure left many facing prolonged power cuts.
- Significant structural damage to buildings.
- Disruption to road transport from falling trees - roads blocked or in some instances closed.
- Disruption to rail transport due to falling trees and debris on lines.
- Disruption to air transport - 192 flights were cancelled at Heathrow.
- London Bridge station closed for the day due to glass panels being blown out.
Warning Assessment
Based on the new warning system the following assessments would have been made:
- Likelihood - high
- Impact - high
This would have resulted in a red warning for wind:
