Oh dear...

I was refering to the Wind of those events and the Maximum gust from that 2000 storm was 59mph Duanne the Burns day storm of 1990 winds gusted over 60mph .

See ROb's post above. The problem is it wasn't much further S and wasn't a "storm in a teacup". In other words, your post was merely an attempt at oneupmanship. There's no place for that on here, thank you.

That is very sad news, Ben. I've already summarised my thoughts, but I am convinced that whatever slant the 'teacup' brigade attempt to put on the storm many lives have been potentially saved by the advanced warning system and travel advice.

The analysis will no doubt go on, and I am especially interested in what looks like a focussed swathe of max gusts from Hampshire to Essex between 5am and 7am. Mechanisms for this are many and varied but an SJ type feature can't be ruled out.

Really? reports of over 200 trees down in Kent and Sussex, reports of 17yr old killed now also sadly. I'd say it's a little more than usual Autumn Storm for these areas anyway.

How accurate was the rain forecast? Looking at the radar there seemed to be a few heavy bursts, but it didn't seem as intense as I was expecting.

No one on here or outside of the Express ever claimed it would be an '87. Between "normal autum storm" and '87' there is a LOT of ground.

SC - any more, please PM me. Your posts about this being a normal storm do not bear up to scrutiny and are now bordering on being trolling. Any more posts in here will be deleted.

Yes I know you were, but the 2000 storm system was a whole lot worse with gusts on Northwestley gales reaching 70mph across the East Midlands.

The part of Hook I live in and part of Hartley Wintney were down. Update at 11am as to when it'll be back on.

Hearing a man has died in Watford also after tree falls onto Car.

I think what has been most noticeable during this period has been the longevity, the wind was gusting to over 50 Kts yesterday morning and 24 hours later it is still gusting over 40 Kts and the average is up in the high 20Kts-30Kts range. This borne out by the current TAF

EGJB 280756Z 2809/2818 25030G44KT 9999 SCT015 TEMPO 2809/2818 5000 SHRA BKN012CB=

I've just got back from a walk along the beach below the house and the sea is looking very rough with huge swells crashing ashore.

Yup.  Thats a tragedy that girl getting hit.  Would have been more of these events if the media had not publicised the warnings.

If media hype saves lives then long live media hype. 

Personally I make up my own mind, but for non weather-geeks the media is useful on these occasions.

Well done to all the teams out there keeping the infrastructure working despite some horrific gusts.

WI

For anyone interested in the period/pattern of maximum speeds, this is a link to a weather station in the Solent, just off the entrance to Chichester harbour on the south coast. It shows a sustained speed of 40 knots from midnight - 4am then an increase with a maximum gust of around 70 knots at approx 5.30am

http://chimet.co.uk/%28S%280iatvz45ovv0bne5dbjvvo45%29%29/wind.aspx

Many trees down in London this morning probably the worst storm that ive seen since 2000 maybe even 1990.

Amazing pictures of a tree down in Hounslow that caused a gas explosion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24699748

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24699748

Second death from a falling tree sadly

Can't fault the chain saw team who were out this morning trying to keep the roads open

Cheryl, with the aid of daylight, can see a big tree that has been uprooted at the school behind our house along with two other substantial branches

She took a diversion to work to avoid a fallen tree this morning and is assisting in dealing with another one at her customers property

Just a routine day then

For us (in Mid Suffolk) it picked up to a peak for an hour from 7.30am to 8.30am. 77mph max gust recorded here, which ties in nicely with the 76mph recorded at Wattisham, a few miles away, around the same time.

When my Meteohub has finished recomputing data after a power cut, I'll post a wind speed graph.

John

I'm not going to comment on SC's possible motives and certainly don't want to rubbish the effects of this storm - which, like with all storms, are significant for those who are affected - but I would say that there should definitely be a place to discuss the approach by the media, before during and afterwards.

This isn't in any way a criticism of forecasters, who were factual & sensible (the Met Office ones at least), nor a dig at anyone on here, but the way the media have portrayed this has been laughable. Talk of the storm 'making landfall'; the army of reporters dotted about the south wearing Arctic expedition clothing and talking in overly dramatic and grave voices; FFS, we even gave the storm a name!!!

I personally got the impression that the various media outlets were just itching for the storm to be like a hurricane smashing into a Gulf state.

It's just pure sensationalism.

Au contraire, I think it was a good call by the rail companies.

With the number of trees down on railway lines, they would not have been able to run a normal service anyway, leading to passengers stranded on trains or at railway stations. It is more than possible that falling trees could have landed on moving trains in more Eastern parts, and I don't think I need to explain the possible consequences of that.

Yes, a pain in the arse for those who rely on the train to get to work, but better to plan ahead and manage the situation properly, than to have to manage a crisis.

Just chatting to one of our providers based in Kent. Their offices are blacked out right now. Just hope all the contignecy works at the datacentre we use. Two sepeare power lines from different suppliers plus on site diesels. All good so far :-)

This is it in a nutshell, Sky News this morning was quite frankly laughable

Completely agree.

Got woken about 06:30 this morning by a huge roaring sound. The wind was really gusting at this stage, so  looked out of the window to see my neighbours arieal go for a burton. Looked up into the sky and there was 747 struggling manfully into the gale on approach to Heathrow. I bet that was an entertaining approach and landing. . Bearing in mind I live the other side of London from Heathrow, that couldn't have been comfortable for anybody on board.

Roads are chaos around here. A2 closed into London because of a falling tree. Dartford Bridge however has just re-opened, but quite a few trees down on surrounding roads. A significant autumnal storm, well forecasted by the Met, ridiculously but predictably over-hyped by the press and the lamentable Sky News.

Best.

Can someone let iandj know it's safe to come out now

One of our fence panels has come loose, but could of been alot worse, nothing a few nails won't solve.