Discuss the impacts of storm events in the British Isles and evaluate the responses to them

The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on the 15^th October in that year, it was the worst storm to reach Britain for over 200 years. The days preceding the storm a depression was developing over the Bay of Biscay, just west of France. This depression was slowly drifting northwards towards the British Isles building up intensity as it went. Weather stations reported that the severe weather would not reach further north than the English Channel, therefore England were not mentally or physically ready to cope with a storm of this magnitude.

The impacts of the storm were great, with wind speeds recorded of up to 120mph in Sussex and Kent. Over 15 million trees throughout England had blown over in the course of the day; a factor of this was due to most of the trees not losing their leaves before the storm had hit and also the antecedent conditions made the ground was soft. Overall 22 lives were lost, with 19 of them in England. Schools were closed as well as 150,000 houses were without telephone communications. A further 5 million homes were left with no electricity and many houses were a victim of falling trees. A Holt in the Stock Market occurred, with many work employees opting for a few days off work due to not being able to travel. The fire brigade recorded over 6000 calls in a 24 hour period. London experienced the first blackout since the blitz and flights were cancelled in Gatwick and Heathrow with also Ports closing.

After the storms had gone, the people of England tried in many ways to rejuvenate their land. Trees were planted in an attempt to restore the millions of trees that had fallen and those trees that had fallen had been taken to be used prematurely for resources such as furniture and paper. Generally widespread panic was a factor of the storms during and after the time as well as people blaming the Met Office for not forecasting the storm prior to the events.