January 2012 day by day

The 3rd January saw a very stormy day in places as a notably deep low (952mb whilst near Tiree) moved east north east across northern Scotland and out into the North Sea. The cold front gave severe weather in places too as it moved SE across England. Initially a Shapiro Keyser type low, it developed a belt of extremely strong winds which ran across central parts of Scotland, these caused by the folding down of high winds aloft created by a 'sting Jet' on the top of a wrap around occluded front. Pressure rose dramatically to the east as the low moved away, it was up 19mb in 2 hours at Tiree by 09Z, very close to all time UK pressure rise records. Some of the highest gusts were at Malin Hd (Ireland) 105mph, (which also recorded a 10-minute mean windspeed of 78 mph, thus exceeding the previous record of 77mph, recorded on the 26 Dec, 1998) Edinburgh Blackford Hill 102 mph and on the Tay Bridge (unofficial) Salsburgh 97mph, Islay 96mph, Inverkip nr Greenock 95mph (unofficial) Aberdaron (W Wales) 93mph,  Portland (Dorset,south coast) 91mph. In the south on the cold front even well inland East Malling (Kent) reported a gust to 70mph. It was very wet in places esp the Highlands and Tyndrum reported 53mm in the 24 hours to 21Z.

As a result there was extensive disruption in places and local damage. In the south a lorry driver was killed in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) when a tree fell onto his cabin. Part of the roof of the grandstand at Epsom racecourse in Surrey was been blown off and a bus driver in Witley, Surrey suffered serious injuries when a tree fell on to his vehicle. Parts of a village shop were reduced to rubble after high winds hit a shop in Chalgrove, Oxon at about 10:30 GMT. A mobile home was destroyed and several other properties damaged by strong winds in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Southern Electric Power Distribution said the weather had caused fallen power lines throughout the south. Devon firefighters carried out several rescues from cars which had become stuck in floodwater and two Environment Agency employees waded into floodwater to help a driver whose car was swept away near a swollen ford in Chew Stoke, near Bristol.

In the central areas of the UK homes were evacuated in Gwynedd, Wales, because of arcing power lines. Many road & rail bridges were closed with the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow shut by two overturned lorries. In Cumbria, high winds caused a truck to overturn on to the hard shoulder of the M6 southbound near Tebay, while another lorry was blown on to its side on the A66 in County Durham and there were numerous other reports of vehicles being hit by or hitting fallen trees around the UK.

In the north, Edinburgh & Glasgow airports were closed at one stage. Power company SSE said it dealt with a loss of power to 34,000 customers, while Scottish Power said about 40,000 homes were without power across its network area. There were also blizzards in the Highlands with the A9 at Aviemore closed in several places by fallen trees, as were roads in many parts of Scotland in fact. Network Rail Scotland said chainsaw gangs were out on the network clearing multiple tree falls whilst Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended 488 incidents between 00:00 and 13:00 on Tuesday, with its officers mostly having to deal with structural damage from fallen trees and collapsed buildings. Five people were injured when mobile homes were upturned by the wind at Stratheck holiday park near Inverchapel, between Loch Eck and the Holy Loch. One of them, a 35-year-old woman, was in a serious but stable condition.The Aston Hotel in Dumfries suffered major structural damage after the storm ripped off part of its roof. Likewise in Northern Ireland a number of roads were closed & the Foyle Bridge in Derry was closed.

Off shore, a crewman at sea died when three injured men were rescued by Falmouth coastguards from the Annie PG in the Channel after being hit by a large wave. The other two men were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. Seven people became stranded on a yacht five miles off Dover after the vessel lost power in 50-knot winds and both Dungeness and Dover lifeboats were called at 05:15 GMT to help the vessel, named appropriately 'Liquid Vortex', which was on its way from Southampton to London. Various flood warnings were issued across the UK as well.

January 4th 2012 was again a wet day in parts of the north and generally dull everywhere. Cluanie Inn (Highlands) reported 59mm in the 24 hours to 21Z. There then followed another very windy period that developed across many areas by the afternoon onwards as a deep low ran ESE just north of Scotland into the northern north Sea. It was around 958mb by 21Z near the Orkney Isles. There was a significantly tight pressure gradient to the SW as it ran ESE. Winds gusted to 78mph at Keswick and 76mph at Drumalbin in southern Scotland. Although not official on the very exposed 600m high level section of the A686 at Hartside between Penrith and Alston in Cumbria a gust of 96mph was reported at 2230. North Yorkshire Police urged motorists on Wednesday night to make only essential journeys and Suffolk fire services were warning people not to travel after dealing with 60 fallen trees and power cables that came down. In Scotland, up to 15,000 homes were without power for a second night - 900 homes in Nottingham were also affected. The strong winds continued into the 5th as the deep low ran ESE into the northern North Sea. They were exacerbated in places by lee effects to the east of high ground. There were some very strong gusts on Thursday morning as well. Officially, High Bradfield near Sheffield reported 93 mph; Capel Curig in North Wales 87 mph, the very exposed Winter Hill at 456m (near Bolton) reached 82mph as did Perranporth in Cornwall (unofficially) and on the A53 at Royal Cottage 80mph was unofficially recorded. Leeds/Bradford Airport reached 77 mph. There was also an official but high level gust of 111 mph on the top of Great Dunn Fell, at 847m. By mid morning though the winds were generally abating everywhere allowing the clean up operation to begin for the second time in three days. In Scotland there was further disruption even as the effects of the storm on the 3rd were being cleared. A network rail spokesman said 'We've cleared thousands of trees from across the whole network - nearly 900 on one stretch of line in Fife alone through Markinch, where there was almost a horizontal forest of trees running over almost a quarter mile of railway'.The extent of damage across the whole network, in terms of trees, overhead cable damage, damage along sea walls and so forth, we've not seen that for many, many years."

Some 6,000 homes and businesses in the East and West Midlands were without power because of strong winds. Warwickshire County Council said that they dealt with many fallen trees & a number of roads were closed in Herefordshire and Worcestershire due to trees blown over. bIn Worcestershire, on the B4348 in Dorstone a car crashed into a fallen tree. In Notts high winds left more than 900 homes without power, Western and power cables came down near the A46 at Newark. There were several reports of road blockages from fallen trees in the region and flooding caused traffic delays on the A52.

In northern,north-east & eastern England, fire crews had to cut free two women from a car after a tree fell onto it in Eaglescliffe, Teesside. Neither was seriously hurt. A number of roads were blocked by fallen trees, and on North Tyneside part of the A1058 was closed for a time after heavy rain caused flooding. Fallen power lines also left dozens of homes in Allendale, Northumberland, without electricity. In Lincolnshire two houses, in Spalding and Skegness, lost their roofs and a stable block was blown across a road in Willoughby. Police said the cyclist suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by part of a tree near Belton and a motorist escaped injury after his car collided with the same tree shortly afterwards, more than 40 trees were brought down in the area leading to several road closures.

Further south ferry services from Dover were delayed because of rough seas as well with all P&O services to Calais and DFDS ferries to Dunkirk affected, On the rail network a number of services in Kent were disrupted because of trees and obstructions on the line. Several roads in Dorking, Guildford, Haslemere, Pirbright and Woking were closed after fallen trees left them blocked. It was quite wet due to the showers in the west in places esp in the far SW, Okehampton (Devon) saw 25mm to 21Z but sunny in places too

A much quieter week followed but January 12th saw high pressure displaced to the SW as a cold front moved south during the day, it was windy in the north for a time particular in the lee of the Pennines & Leeds Bradford airport gusted to 67mph . However it was very mild in places too to the south of it, In Monmouth, Usk reached 13.7C. Further north in the Scottish Highlands it was both wet & windy though earlier on with 45mm at Cluanie Inn in the 24 hours to 21 and Loch Glascarnoch gusting to 68mph. By the 16th a ridge of high pressure lay across the eastern & central UK which slowly collapsed SE. There was a cold night in places more especially in Scotland where Aboyne fell to -10.5C and -13C on the grass, the coldest temperature recorded so far this winter. Milder air was pushing into the north west though by dawn as winds became more S'ly nevertheless a few places in Scotland stayed close to freezing all day and Cassley never rose above -2.8C. The 17th saw a cold start again inland and South Newington (Oxon) fell to -8.1C and Farnborough fell as low as -11C on the grass. The 18th was mild though and saw 13.9C at Exeter (Devon) the highest temperature recorded in the Uk this month. On January 21st a deep low ran to the NE of Scotland overnight and was about 969mb just east of the Foeroes by 06Z. A cold front ran SE around dawn right across England and Wales as heavy showers, some wintry, packed into Scotland in a strong NW'ly wind. Sule Skerry gusted to 69mph but even Capel Curig in N Wales reached 74mph overnight and Pennine lee gusts caused Leeds Bradford to reach 63mph. It was a very mild night in the south & SW, & as high as 12C in Coventry by 08Z and 13.5C at Otterboune Water Works near Southampton (Hants) later on. On January 22nd a low slipped down the North Sea bringing a weak cold front south across the Uk and reintroducing a breezy, showery & rather chilly polar maritime flow in the north and eventually to all parts. There were gusts to 73mph at Capel Curig In North Wales early on and 74mph at Leeds- Bradford airport (Yorks) due to lee waves, though these abated somewhat later on in the day.

January 24th was an increasingly mild day as tropical air overran colder air as fronts moved east bringing quite a lot of rain in places but snow on higher ground for a time as well in Northern England and esp Highland Scotland where it was cold to start earlier in the night with Braemar in the Highlands down to -4.1C. January 26th saw a cold front move east overnight clearing the far SE by about 10am and a cooler showery flow followed into the west accentuated by a trough and some of the showers were heavy & wintry in nature esp over high ground in the NW with thunder as well in places for example along a few places on the south coast in the evening. The 27th saw a chilly showery polar maritime flow covering the Uk as low pressure sunk SE over Scotland and into the North Sea later with associated troughs giving showers of rain, hail and sleet in places. January 29th was a chilly day in the east as a warm front with rain spreading slowly east turned to snow across inland Wales and upland parts of the SW as well. However high pressure in the north & east generally stopped its northwards & eastward movement down the spine of the UK giving a frosty start and end to the day here though it reached as far east as a line roughly from Worthing to Reading to Birmingham to Manchester, leaving a quite sunny day in the east and NE of the UK in places. It was notably wet in parts of N Ireland however. On the 30th the area of sleet and snow slowly petered out in the west and SW as a weak low pressure area sunk SW and filled. However some upland areas of Wales and the SW Moors saw 7-12cm of lying snow by daybreak in places.

January Day by Day

The 3rd January saw a very stormy day in places as a notably deep low (952mb whilst near Tiree) moved east north east across northern Scotland and out into the North Sea. The cold front gave severe weather in places too as it moved SE across England. Initially a Shapiro Keyser type low, it developed a belt of extremely strong winds which ran across central parts of Scotland, these caused by the folding down of high winds aloft created by a 'sting Jet' on the top of a wrap around occluded front. Pressure rose dramatically to the east as the low moved away, it was up 19mb in 2 hours at Tiree by 09Z, very close to all time UK pressure rise records. Some of the highest gusts were at Malin Hd (Ireland) 105mph, (which also recorded a 10-minute mean windspeed of 78 mph, thus exceeding the previous record of 77mph, recorded on the 26 Dec, 1998) Edinburgh Blackford Hill 102 mph and on the Tay Bridge (unofficial) Salsburgh 97mph, Islay 96mph, Inverkip nr Greenock 95mph (unofficial) Aberdaron (W Wales) 93mph,  Portland (Dorset,south coast) 91mph. In the south on the cold front even well inland East Malling (Kent) reported a gust to 70mph. It was very wet in places esp the Highlands and Tyndrum reported 53mm in the 24 hours to 21Z.

As a result there was extensive disruption in places and local damage. In the south a lorry driver was killed in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) when a tree fell onto his cabin. Part of the roof of the grandstand at Epsom racecourse in Surrey was been blown off and a bus driver in Witley, Surrey suffered serious injuries when a tree fell on to his vehicle. Parts of a village shop were reduced to rubble after high winds hit a shop in Chalgrove, Oxon at about 10:30 GMT. A mobile home was destroyed and several other properties damaged by strong winds in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Southern Electric Power Distribution said the weather had caused fallen power lines throughout the south. Devon firefighters carried out several rescues from cars which had become stuck in floodwater and two Environment Agency employees waded into floodwater to help a driver whose car was swept away near a swollen ford in Chew Stoke, near Bristol.

In the central areas of the UK homes were evacuated in Gwynedd, Wales, because of arcing power lines. Many road & rail bridges were closed with the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow shut by two overturned lorries. In Cumbria, high winds caused a truck to overturn on to the hard shoulder of the M6 southbound near Tebay, while another lorry was blown on to its side on the A66 in County Durham and there were numerous other reports of vehicles being hit by or hitting fallen trees around the UK.

In the north, Edinburgh & Glasgow airports were closed at one stage. Power company SSE said it dealt with a loss of power to 34,000 customers, while Scottish Power said about 40,000 homes were without power across its network area. There were also blizzards in the Highlands with the A9 at Aviemore closed in several places by fallen trees, as were roads in many parts of Scotland in fact. Network Rail Scotland said chainsaw gangs were out on the network clearing multiple tree falls whilst Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said it had attended 488 incidents between 00:00 and 13:00 on Tuesday, with its officers mostly having to deal with structural damage from fallen trees and collapsed buildings. Five people were injured when mobile homes were upturned by the wind at Stratheck holiday park near Inverchapel, between Loch Eck and the Holy Loch. One of them, a 35-year-old woman, was in a serious but stable condition.The Aston Hotel in Dumfries suffered major structural damage after the storm ripped off part of its roof. Likewise in Northern Ireland a number of roads were closed & the Foyle Bridge in Derry was closed. Off shore, a crewman at sea died when three injured men were rescued by Falmouth coastguards from the Annie PG in the Channel after being hit by a large wave. The other two men were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. Seven people became stranded on a yacht five miles off Dover after the vessel lost power in 50-knot winds and both Dungeness and Dover lifeboats were called at 05:15 GMT to help the vessel, named appropriately 'Liquid Vortex', which was on its way from Southampton to London. Various flood warnings were issued across the UK as well.

January 4th was again a wet day in parts of the north and generally dull everywhere. Cluanie Inn (Highlands) reported 59mm in the 24 hours to 21Z. There then followed another very windy period that developed across many areas by the afternoon onwards as a deep low ran ESE just north of Scotland into the northern north Sea. It was around 958mb by 21Z near the Orkney Isles. There was a significantly tight pressure gradient to the SW as it ran ESE. Winds gusted to 78mph at Keswick and 76mph at Drumalbin in southern Scotland. Although not official on the very exposed 600m high level section of the A686 at Hartside between Penrith and Alston in Cumbria a gust of 96mph was reported at 2230. North Yorkshire Police urged motorists on Wednesday night to make only essential journeys and Suffolk fire services were warning people not to travel after dealing with 60 fallen trees and power cables that came down. In Scotland, up to 15,000 homes were without power for a second night - 900 homes in Nottingham were also affected. The strong winds continued into the 5th as the deep low ran ESE into the northern North Sea. They were exacerbated in places by lee effects to the east of high ground. There were some very strong gusts on Thursday morning as well. Officially, High Bradfield near Sheffield reported 93 mph; Capel Curig in North Wales 87 mph, the very exposed Winter Hill at 456m (near Bolton) reached 82mph as did Perranporth in Cornwall (unofficially) and on the A53 at Royal Cottage 80mph was unofficially recorded. Leeds/Bradford Airport reached 77 mph. There was also an official but high level gust of 111 mph on the top of Great Dunn Fell, at 847m. By mid morning though the winds were generally abating everywhere allowing the clean up operation to begin for the second time in three days. In Scotland there was further disruption even as the effects of the storm on the 3rd were being cleared. A network rail spokesman said 'We've cleared thousands of trees from across the whole network - nearly 900 on one stretch of line in Fife alone through Markinch, where there was almost a horizontal forest of trees running over almost a quarter mile of railway'.The extent of damage across the whole network, in terms of trees, overhead cable damage, damage along sea walls and so forth, we've not seen that for many, many years."

Some 6,000 homes and businesses in the East and West Midlands were without power because of strong winds. Warwickshire County Council said that they dealt with many fallen trees & a number of roads were closed in Herefordshire and Worcestershire due to trees blown over. bIn Worcestershire, on the B4348 in Dorstone a car crashed into a fallen tree. In Notts high winds left more than 900 homes without power, Western and power cables came down near the A46 at Newark. There were several reports of road blockages from fallen trees in the region and flooding caused traffic delays on the A52.

In northern,north-east & eastern England, fire crews had to cut free two women from a car after a tree fell onto it in Eaglescliffe, Teesside. Neither was seriously hurt. A number of roads were blocked by fallen trees, and on North Tyneside part of the A1058 was closed for a time after heavy rain caused flooding. Fallen power lines also left dozens of homes in Allendale, Northumberland, without electricity. In Lincolnshire two houses, in Spalding and Skegness, lost their roofs and a stable block was blown across a road in Willoughby. Police said the cyclist suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by part of a tree near Belton and a motorist escaped injury after his car collided with the same tree shortly afterwards, more than 40 trees were brought down in the area leading to several road closures.

Further south ferry services from Dover were delayed because of rough seas as well with all P&O services to Calais and DFDS ferries to Dunkirk affected, On the rail network a number of services in Kent were disrupted because of trees and obstructions on the line. Several roads in Dorking, Guildford, Haslemere, Pirbright and Woking were closed after fallen trees left them blocked. It was quite wet due to the showers in the west in places esp in the far SW, Okehampton (Devon) saw 25mm to 21Z but sunny in places too

A much quieter week followed but January 12th saw high pressure displaced to the SW as a cold front moved south during the day, it was windy in the north for a time particular in the lee of the Pennines & Leeds Bradford airport gusted to 67mph . However it was very mild in places too to the south of it, In Monmouth, Usk reached 13.7C. Further north in the Scottish Highlands it was both wet & windy though earlier on with 45mm at Cluanie Inn in the 24 hours to 21 and Loch Glascarnoch gusting to 68mph. B

On the 16th a ridge of high pressure lay across the eastern & central UK which slowly collapsed SE. There was a cold night in places more especially in Scotland where Aboyne fell to -10.5C and -13C on the grass, the coldest temperature recorded so far this winter. Milder air was pushing into the north west though by dawn as winds became more S'ly nevertheless a few places in Scotland stayed close to freezing all day and Cassley never rose above -2.8C.

The 17th saw a cold start again inland and South Newington (Oxon) fell to -8.1C and Farnborough fell as low as -11C on the grass.

The 18th was mild though and saw 13.9C at Exeter (Devon) the highest temperature recorded in the Uk this month.

On January 21st a deep low ran to the NE of Scotland overnight and was about 969mb just east of the Foeroes by 06Z. A cold front ran SE around dawn right across England and Wales as heavy showers, some wintry, packed into Scotland in a strong NW'ly wind. Sule Skerry gusted to 69mph but even Capel Curig in N Wales reached 74mph overnight and Pennine lee gusts caused Leeds Bradford to reach 63mph. It was a very mild night in the south & SW, & as high as 12C in Coventry by 08Z and 13.5C at Otterboune Water Works near Southampton (Hants) later on.

On January 22nd a low slipped down the North Sea bringing a weak cold front south across the Uk and reintroducing a breezy, showery & rather chilly polar maritime flow in the north and eventually to all parts. There were gusts to 73mph at Capel Curig In North Wales early on and 74mph at Leeds- Bradford airport (Yorks) due to lee waves, though these abated somewhat later on in the day.

January 24th was an increasingly mild day as tropical air overran colder air as fronts moved east bringing quite a lot of rain in places but snow on higher ground for a time as well in Northern England and esp Highland Scotland where it was cold to start earlier in the night with Braemar in the Highlands down to -4.1C.

January 26th saw a cold front move east overnight clearing the far SE by about 10am and a cooler showery flow followed into the west accentuated by a trough and some of the showers were heavy & wintry in nature esp over high ground in the NW with thunder as well in places for example along a few places on the south coast in the evening.

The 27th saw a chilly showery polar maritime flow covering the Uk as low pressure sunk SE over Scotland and into the North Sea later with associated troughs giving showers of rain, hail and sleet in places.

January 29th was a chilly day in the east as a warm front with rain spreading slowly east turned to snow across inland Wales and upland parts of the SW as well. However high pressure in the north & east generally stopped its northwards & eastward movement down the spine of the UK giving a frosty start and end to the day here though it reached as far east as a line roughly from Worthing to Reading to Birmingham to Manchester, leaving a quite sunny day in the east and NE of the UK in places. It was notably wet in parts of N Ireland however.

On the 30th the area of sleet and snow slowly petered out in the west and SW as a weak low pressure area sunk SW and filled. However some upland areas of Wales and the SW Moors saw 7-12cm of lying snow by daybreak in places which continued all day in parts of upland Wales and the SW moors.