Discuss the impacts of storm events in the British Isles and evaluate the response to them (40)
Discuss the impacts of storm events in the British Isles and evaluate the response to them (40)
The British Isles have variable weather, which may differ from day to day and many storms can pass unnoticed. They regularly experience stormy weather from depressions mainly originating in the Atlantic and move East to the UK due to its location at about 50 degrees north where the Polar Jet Stream will often cross over bringing these unpredictable weather systems. Depressions are areas of low atmospheric pressure which produce cloudy, windy and stormy weather. This essay will be using the largest storms in the last 30 years including The Great Storm, 1987 and the Burns Day Storm, 1990 to relate the impacts which these storms create in social, economic and environmental terms and how the British Isles have responded to such events.
The Great Strom in 1987 was famously known for being undetected until it hit during the night and caused huge devastation to the British Isles, France, Spain, Belgium and Norway. It hit the South West & South East of England with a maximum gust of 122 mph in Norfolk. In addition the highest hourly mean wind speed was 85 mph at Shoreham-by-Sea and was sustained for 20 minutes. The social damage was huge; 19 people were killed, mainly from collapsing buildings and structures or falling debris. However had this storm been during the day time the death toll would have been much higher as we saw in the Burns Day Storm in 1990 where 97 were killed, due to trees and more people being outdoors. The Great Storm also left hundreds of thousands homes without electricity. The National Grid faced heavy damage from short circuits and overheating, as a result, all of London’s power was turned off.
There were also many blocked roads and railways which prevented people from working for the next few days. this meant the London stock market was suspended twice and the disruption meant the City was unable to respond to deals; The Dow Jones Industrial
The British Isles have variable weather, which may differ from day to day and many storms can pass unnoticed. They regularly experience stormy weather from depressions mainly originating in the Atlantic and move East to the UK due to its location at about 50 degrees north where the Polar Jet Stream will often cross over bringing these unpredictable weather systems. Depressions are areas of low atmospheric pressure which produce cloudy, windy and stormy weather. This essay will be using the largest storms in the last 30 years including The Great Storm, 1987 and the Burns Day Storm, 1990 to relate the impacts which these storms create in social, economic and environmental terms and how the British Isles have responded to such events.
The Great Strom in 1987 was famously known for being undetected until it hit during the night and caused huge devastation to the British Isles, France, Spain, Belgium and Norway. It hit the South West & South East of England with a maximum gust of 122 mph in Norfolk. In addition the highest hourly mean wind speed was 85 mph at Shoreham-by-Sea and was sustained for 20 minutes. The social damage was huge; 19 people were killed, mainly from collapsing buildings and structures or falling debris. However had this storm been during the day time the death toll would have been much higher as we saw in the Burns Day Storm in 1990 where 97 were killed, due to trees and more people being outdoors. The Great Storm also left hundreds of thousands homes without electricity. The National Grid faced heavy damage from short circuits and overheating, as a result, all of London’s power was turned off.
There were also many blocked roads and railways which prevented people from working for the next few days. this meant the London stock market was suspended twice and the disruption meant the City was unable to respond to deals; The Dow Jones Industrial