Storm waves crashing against a harbour wall

Storm David

The storm brought strong winds to eastern parts of the UK before strengthening further as it crossed the North Sea and impacted northern Europe.

The strongest winds were across the southern half of the UK, with the south-east particularly affected as the storm intensified. Gusts exceeded 58 mph, even in inland areas including London, but the strongest gusts were in a swathe from North Wales through the south Pennines to Lincolnshire and Norfolk, where some inland locations recorded gusts exceeding 69 mph.

Storm David - Maximum gust speeds (mph)
Site name Area Max gust (mph)
Capel Curig Conwy 93
Tibenham Norfolk 83
Aberdaron Gwynedd 78
Lake Vyrnwy Powys 76
Wittering Cambridge 74
Cranwell Lincolnshire 71

Storm David brought significant and widespread disruption to the UK, with over 100,000 properties without power, reports of fallen trees and rail services disrupted. Meanwhile, significant accumulations of lying snow across southern Scotland caused disruption on the roads - although much of this was from accumulations during the 16th and into the 17th.

As the storm moved into the near continent it caused further disruption across Holland and Germany (where the storm was named as Friederike).