The Greatest British Storm - The Severest Of Weather


by markcb - Date: 2008-06-19 - Word Count: 800 Share This!

The worst storm ever recorded in the UK struck in the 18th century killing thousands and destroying huge amounts of property and uprooting hundreds of thousands of trees.
On the night of November 26th, 1703, the "Great Storm" hit southern Britain. By the following morning, up to 15,000 people were dead, the majority of them drowned on ships sunk at sea.

Over three centuries later, that storm is still considered the greatest storm to ever strike Britain in recorded history. The storm also prompted one of the earliest books written solely on a weather event. 'The Storm' was the first published work by Daniel Defoe, who's most famous work is 'Robinson Crusoe'

In his eye-witness account of the storm Defoe wrote "No pen could describe it, nor tongue express it, nor thought conceive it unless by one in the extremity of it...No storm since the Universal Deluge was like this, either in its violence or its duration." He went on to describe the storm as "the tempest that destroyed woods and forests all over England." Defoe himself was very nearly killed in the weeks before the storm by strong Autumn winds blowing down a chimney and narrowly missing him as he walked down a London street.

The total loss of life from this storm is both on land and on sea is estimated at 9,000, maybe even as many as 15,000, most aboard the 600-700 ships sunk or damaged during the storm. On land 4,000 trees were uprooted in the New Forest alone. 400 windmills and nearly 1,000 houses were destroyed and over 100 churches were severely damaged by the winds.

There is no evidence or proof as to the origins of the storm, whether it had tropical roots or was spawned off the coast of North America is a matter for mere speculation, but what is definitely known is that the storm first battered the west coast of Britain on 25 November around the Bristol Channel.

From the meagre meteorological information available, the evidence points to the main depression centre moved north of Scotland while a secondary low-pressure cell formed to the south west and moved across Britain from south Wales to the mouth of the Humber on the East coast of central England. This secondary depression drove hurricane-force winds across the English Channel and into southern England. There is some documented evidence that the barometric pressure might have plummeted as low as 950 mb as it crossed the Midlands.

Wind speeds were estimated in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h) in parts of East Anglia and in Whitstable, Kent, a tornado (or waterspout) hoisted a ship out of the water, dumping it 800 ft (244 m) inland from the shore.

After a 300-mile (480 km) path of destruction across southern England and Wales, the storm moved across the North Sea late on the 27th and struck parts of France, northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden and perhaps even Finland before finally dissipating.

The first Eddystone Lighthouse, constructed in 1696, was battered in the Channel. Some weeks prior to the Great Storm, its builder Henry Winstanley had confidently expressed the wish that he could be on the reef during "the greatest storm that ever blew under the face of heaven" so he could see the wind's impact on his tower. Winstanley's wish came true, but with the expected results. By the night of the 27th the storm had left no trace of the octagonal wooden tower remaining. Winstanley and the other 5 occupants were never seen again.

At Bristol the storm surge flooded the town with water nearly 10 feet (3.1 m) above previous high tides. The surge channelled up the Severn drowning 15,000 sheep.

Deaths on land across southern Britain totalled over 100. The Bishop Kidder of Bath and Wells died when two chimney stacks fell on the bishop and his wife as they slept in bed.

In the Channel the storm caught the British fleet and many merchant ships. The British Navy had been engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession and three fleets lay in the English Channel at the mercy of the storm. 13 Royal Navy ships were lost, taking with them 1500 sailors.
Some ships that were caught in the storm did survive however. Many were blown out to open waters and some survived the winds and waves. A few even reached the coasts of Denmark and Norway and eventually sailed back to Britain.

The total damage to Britain and the Royal Navy was estimated in the range of £2-4 million, a huge total in the early eighteenth century. The death toll was 9000, and maybe even as high as 15,000. 300,000 trees were split or uprooted. Today, the Great Storm of 1703 still provides the benchmark by which all other storms to hit Great Britain are assessed. And so far none have surpassed it.

Related Tags: storm, weather, weather stations, tornado, severe weather, extreme weather, floods, wireless weather

Mark Boardman BSc dip.hyp is a leading author and expert on Wireless Weather and the creator of Weather World, a one stop reference point for all things Meteorolgical. Go and look at these sites now to start your life as an amateur meteorologist.

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