Extreme weather event in UK

Question 1

GIve an example of an extreme weather event in the UK and say explain it was

Answer 1

The St. Jude storm 27th and 28th Oct 2013. Huge low pressure Depression that struck the UK before going on to affect other parts of Europe. Caused 17 deaths. also known as Cyclone Christian

Question 2

What were the causes of Cyclone Christian?

Answer 2

Depression off East coast of USA in North Atlantic along the polar front, the boundary between warm and cold air.
Moved East - helped by strong jet stream
As moved East passed by remenants of tropical storm which added extra warm air and energy to the storm
This plus strong jet stream led to rapid deepening of St. Jude low before it hit the uk.

Question 3

Name the facts of St. Jude strom

Answer 3

Crossed over 2000km in less than 26 hours
Pressure very low
Winds enhanced by sting jet

Question 4

What were the Primary Effects of Storm St. Jude

Answer 4

Very fast winds - gust 99mph
Trees bought down as many not dropped their leaves so had a big surface area to be affected by wind.
4 Casulaties
Double decker bus was blown over
Wind turbine in Devon blown over

Question 5

What were the Secondary Effects of Storm St. Jude?

Answer 5

Loss of power supplies -850,000 homes lost power
Nuclear reactors at Dungeness B had to be shut down
Trees fell onto buildings, cars, powerlines
Transport chaos -130 flight cancelled, Train services scaled down for sfety reasons
Many roads closed
Channel ferry crossing cancelled
Structural damange to buildings

Question 6

Response and Management

What actions occured before the event?

Answer 6

Met office predicted storm accuartely using a supercomputer - limited impact of the strom
Met office issed weather warnings for affected areas
Communicated warning via social media, website, national news
Metropolitan Police services advised people to only use 999 emergency telephone number in an emergency and use 101 for other things

Question 7

Response and Management

What actions occured after the event?

Answer 7

Insurance companies had to take on extra staff to cope witand estimates of the total cost range between £300 million - £500 milliion
Electricity companies made a massive effort to reconnect homes to electricity with just 3,110 homes withour power by 1st November.