By Paul Homewood
There have been many claims that Storm Ciaran was somehow almost unprecedented, all caused by climate change of course!
In Britain, it was no more than a damp squib for most; even on exposed coasts, the highest gusts reported were only 71 mph, the sort of winds we see every year.
How anybody can compare Ciaran with storms like the Burns Day one in 1990 beats me. This is what Philip Eden wrote ten years ago:
While the Great Storm of 1987 produced even stronger winds, Eden believes that Burns Day was even stronger in terms of geographical extent, longevity and intensity. Note he also comments that the storm was just the start of six weeks of strong gales.
The Met Office’s report on the storm proves that any attempt to compare Burns Day and Ciaran are utterly absurd. Note particularly the sustained wind speeds, which hit 60 kts and higher in parts of the country, 69 mph and higher. Apart from exposed coasts, Ciaran never got much above 20 mph.
But to get a real impression, just take a look at the BBC’s news coverage that day in January 1990, when 47 died as a direct result of the storm:
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November 8, 2023 at 06:12AM
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