Storm Katie strikes the south coast

Facts and figures from Storm Katie

Photo: Stormy weather at Portland Bill, Dorset CreditSusan Shaw (Flickr)

Storm Katie was the 11th named storm of the season bringing wind gusts in excess of 100mph, causing widespread disruption across much of England at the end of the Easter weekend 2016. 

Fastest wind speeds:

Some of the strongest wind speeds of the storm season were recorded today, matching the 105mph recorded at Lerwick, Shetland during Strom Gertrude that hit on the 29th Janaury. 

  • 105mph gust recorded at Needles*, Isle of Wight (recorded at 05:00) *Needles is a very exposed site and often records some of the highest wind speeds during strong wind events. The locations below are more typical of wind gusts across southern England during Storm Katie. 
  • 79mph gust at Isle of Portland, Dorset
  • 77mph gust at Berry Head, Devon 
  • 72mph gust at Thorney Island, West Sussex

Storm Katie is 11th storm of the season: The 'Name our Storms' project was initially planned to only cover the winter season, however with the project successfully meeting it's key objective of raising public engagement and awareness, the Met Office decided to extend the project and name this latest storm. 

Weather Warnings: An amber 'be prepared' warning was issued for parts of London and the South East from Sunday night to midday on Easter Monday. Much of England and Wales were covered by yellow 'be alert' warnings, with the final warning set to expire at 3pm on Easter Monday. 

Flood warnings: The Environment Agency issued 20 flood warnings and 118 flood alerts. Property flooding was not expected, but water levels were expected to continue to rise throughout the day bringing the risk of flooding to low lying land and roads. 

Flight cancellations: 130 flights were either diverted or cancelled that were scheduled to arrive or depart from London airports, with 61 flights cancelled and 20 diverted from Heathrow. At Gatwick airport, 26 flights had been cancelled, with 23 diverted. 

Power cuts: Over 100,000 homes experienced power loss. The most affected areas were over the south of England, including Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, West Sussex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. 

Damage to infrastructure: Collapsed scaffolding in Woodley in Reading led to the street being closed off. The arm of a crane in Greenwich was bent in half. In Portsea, there were photos illustrating a roof was torn off a house. 

The worst of the weather occurred during the early hours of the morning, with Storm Katie centred over the North Sea by midday. The recent unsettled spell of weather has been bought on by a shift in the jet stream moving further southwards, driving stormy conditions towards the UK. 

Categories: Weather
Tags: Extreme Weather Storms Wind Precipitation WorldWeather

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