2013-14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe facts for kids

The end of 2013 saw a series of strong storms hit Europe, bringing powerful winds, heavy rain, and even snow. These storms caused damage and disruptions across many countries, especially in the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries.

St. Jude Storm and Windstorm Godehard

In late October 2013, a very powerful storm called the St. Jude storm (also known as Cyclone Christian) hit southern England. It was one of the top 10 strongest autumn storms in that area in 40 years. After St. Jude, several other storms swept across western Europe, bringing more wind and rain, though none were as strong as St. Jude.

One of these storms was named Windstorm Godehard. It was the strongest of the follow-up storms and caused some damage in Wales. On the first weekend of November 2013, Godehard's strong winds left about 10,000 homes in Wales without electricity. The M4 motorway was closed between Margam and Pyle because of the weather. A roof at the Princess of Wales Hospital Bridgend was also damaged.

The old Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway had to close, and cars on the Second Severn Crossing had to drive slowly. Natural Resources Wales warned people about local flooding and large waves hitting the coast near Newport. The low air pressure from Godehard also created huge waves in Aberystwyth, which damaged buildings along the seafront.

2013 Nordic Windstorms

From late November to early December, a large area of high air pressure formed west of Britain and Ireland. This high pressure pushed many windstorms northwards towards Norway and Sweden. Because the storms mostly went north of the United Kingdom, November was quite dry for the country. In December, France had long periods of calm, sunny, and dry weather. However, this changed towards the end of the month when active storms brought heavy rain and snow to the mountains.

Until December 14, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland were protected by a strong area of high air pressure that stretched from Africa to the British Isles. But the Nordic countries were hit by several storms, including:

• Windstorm Hilde (November 17)
• Windstorm Oskari (December 1)
• Windstorm Xaver (December 5–7)
• Windstorm Ivar (December 12)
• Windstorms Zaki and Adam (December 14–15)

Windstorm Xaver is especially remembered for causing a big flood in the North Sea on December 5, affecting the UK.

In mid-December, the high air pressure over Britain, Ireland, and the Atlantic Ocean moved east. This allowed areas of low air pressure to reach western Europe. During this time, the jet stream in the North Atlantic became unusually strong. The storms moved under this powerful jet stream, quickly gaining strength before they reached Western Europe.

Christmas and New Year Windstorms

Windstorm Bernd (December 18–19)

The first storm during the Christmas period was named Windstorm Bernd. It was also called Emily, after the author Emily Brontë, who wrote the famous book Wuthering Heights. She passed away 165 years before this storm, on December 19. Met Éireann (Ireland's weather service) issued serious "red warnings" for wind on December 18 for several counties in Ireland, including Donegal and Galway. The United Kingdom Met Office issued "orange warnings" for areas like the Scottish Highlands and Northern Ireland.

Windstorm Dirk (December 23–24)

Windstorm Dirk started over North America and caused some stormy weather in Canada before moving into the Atlantic Ocean. The weather before Dirk in North America had a big temperature difference, which made the jet stream over the North Atlantic even stronger. The storm traveled under this very powerful jet stream, quickly becoming much stronger before it reached Western Europe.

A storm as strong as Dirk is quite rare in the North Atlantic. However, similar intense storms have been recorded before by ships crossing the ocean and by weather stations on land. Dirk created the lowest air pressure in Britain and Ireland since 1886, which was 127 years earlier! The lowest air pressure ever recorded for the British Isles was in 1884, 129 years before Dirk.

Windstorm Erich (December 26-27)

Windstorms Felix & Gerhard

A stormy period continued between Christmas and New Year's Day. Weather fronts connected to Windstorm Felix (December 30) and Windstorm Gerhard (January 1) passed over the United Kingdom. These storms brought even more rain and stormy conditions to the area.

Windstorm Felix was further away from mainland Europe but brought strong winds to the Brittany area in northwest France. Stormy weather near Iceland brought winds up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour) to that country. These storms also disrupted traffic and caused heavy rainfall and more flooding in the United Kingdom. Because of the bad weather, several outdoor swimming events planned for New Year's Day were canceled.

Images for kids

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  High waves at Porthcawl on December 27

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  Lows Felix II (966 hPa), Gerhard (970 hPa), and Anne (993 hPa) on January 1, 2014