Scotland Shut Down By Snow And 165mph Gusts

RobitTV · 08-12-2011 6:08pm #1

icy winds are battering the northern parts of Britain, with people warned to stay indoors, schools forced to close and flights and rail links cancelled.

Localised flooding has also caused major disruptions on roads - and thousands of homes have been left without power.
The Met Office has issued its strongest warning - a red alert - for winds in Scotland and warned parts of England and Wales to "be aware", as temperatures drop and snowfall is predicted as far south as Birmingham.

It said the Highland observing station at Glen Ogle reported a gust of 104mph at 11am. The Met Office later tweeted that a gust at the Aonach Mor ski area peaked at 137mph.

But further north on the summit of the Cairngorms, winds topped 165mph - the fastest gust recorded in the UK since 1986 when 173mph was recorded, also on the top of the summit.

Police have subsequently advised all motorists to avoid travel in central Scotland this afternoon due to expected winds of 90mph. ScottishPower said that, as of 3.30pm, as many as 12,000 homes in the Perthshire area were without power.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16125967

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Worst storm for 15 years batters Britain as winds of up to 165mph lash the north and people are warned to remain indoors
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Cú Giobach · 08-12-2011 7:16pm

RobitTV wrote: »

Worst storm for 15 years batters Britain as winds of up to 165mph lash the north and people are warned to remain indoors

LOL, wind turbines exploding, lorries overturning, waves crashing against the shore and this....:D Brilliant.

M.T. Cranium · 09-12-2011 11:34am

I think that incorporating mountain summit wind speeds into these news stories could mislead the public since in the past the practice was to quote maximum gusts in lower populated areas. This will mean that if Tuesday's storm gets 120 mph gusts in the public forecast, some will think "oh okay, it's three quarters as bad as last Thursday." That would not be good. Wind speeds of 150 mph on top of mountains in Scotland is not exceptional and neither were the maximum wind gusts closer to sea level, have seen a few storms in recent years slightly higher and the Jan 2005 storm comes to mind as being considerably stronger in places.

ninebeanrows · 09-12-2011 12:14pm

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

I think that incorporating mountain summit wind speeds into these news stories could mislead the public since in the past the practice was to quote maximum gusts in lower populated areas. This will mean that if Tuesday's storm gets 120 mph gusts in the public forecast, some will think "oh okay, it's three quarters as bad as last Thursday." That would not be good. Wind speeds of 150 mph on top of mountains in Scotland is not exceptional and neither were the maximum wind gusts closer to sea level, have seen a few storms in recent years slightly higher and the Jan 2005 storm comes to mind as being considerably stronger in places.

Was that the storm that consistently went further and further north in the last 24 hours?

God time flies if it is the one i am remembering, think we really got revved up on here and on RTE, the thing did give strong winds but i remember it was really only in the northwest and most of us escaped with not much. If i remember correctly there was even a news reporter in Galway bay before impact!

Here it is after it moved through us.