One thing I am struggling with is why the Met Office did not issue a red warning on Monday.
Their warning page gives the following storm from 2007 as an example of one that would have triggered a red warning under the current warning system.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/guide/weather/warnings-case-studies/wind-warning-red
That looks remarkably similar to the situation we had on Monday.
http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/major-atlantic-storm-fastest-winds-and-heaviest-rain/
The only differences I can see are that the 2007 storm did occur in the middle of the day whereas this week's storm was in the early morning so there were fewer people around. But we did have the trees still in leaf unlike in January which would suggest the impact factor would be higher in that respect.
If you look at the list of impact events from that 2007 storm and the strongest wind gusts they are really very similar to what we had on Monday. So while the St Jude's storm was very well forecast my personal view is that the Met Office should have issued a red warning.
Originally Posted by: Global Warming