Storm Eunice IOW wind speed record "hardly representative of conditions elsewhere in the UK" - from Harriet Hadfield's 5 stories

Published 11:24 on 27 Feb 2022

The Times, this week, ran an in-depth look at the new provisional wind speed record for England - a massive 122mph, recorded by the Met Office weather station at the Old Battery, high above The Needles during Storm Eunice. But was it as dramatic as it seemed? The article explains: "The Battery is a notoriously windswept location perched 80m high near the cliff edge, facing out to the Channel… Because wind speeds are much higher over the ocean than over land, winds from storms can hit the Battery at great speed. Even though strong winds can hit other sites on the south coast, the Battery often records some of the UK's fastest wind speeds during storms." And then more damning: "It is especially telling that during Storm Eunice the highest gusts of wind elsewhere were generally far less, between 80 and 90mph - so there is a suspicion that the wind speeds at the Battery were hardly representative of conditions elsewhere in the UK." Oh. From Harriet Hadfield's 5 stories. To read more pieces or subscribe, click here.