1968 Scotland storm
1968 storm in Scotland
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ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursA 134 mph (216 km/h) wind gust was recorded at Great Dun Fell in Westmorland, England. At the time this was the strongest wind gust ever recorded in the United Kingdom, though this was superseded in 1986 when a 173 mph (278 km/h) gust was recorded at Cairn Gorm.
The term hurricane is a misnomer as it refers to tropical cyclones originating in the North Atlantic or North Pacific. However the winds were 'hurricane force'.
Meteorological history
The origins of this violent storm appear to be from a cold front near Bermuda on 13 January 1968. The system moved north of the Azores the next day and still appeared as a shallow low pressure area. In the next 24 hours, this low explosively deepened 50 millibars (1½ inches) to 956 mb (28.2 inHg) and passed over Central Scotland. The storm continued to move over Northern Europe before dissipating on 18 January 1968.
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Impact
Scotland
15 January 1968 began as a mild day, then temperatures grew cooler as the day progressed. The highest temperature on that day was 11.8 °C (53.2 °F) at St. James's Park, London and the lowest was 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) at Lerwick, Shetland. The most rainfall on 15 January in the British Isles was 24.9 mm (0.98 in) at South Barrule. In Glasgow alone, over 300 houses were destroyed and 70,000 homes were damaged. Due to the strong winds, half of Glasgow's council houses were damaged. Many people evacuated what were then Europe's tallest flats as they began swaying. Officials said at least seven ships sank or went adrift in the river Clyde causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. Off the east coast of Scotland, a drilling rig called Sea Quest was set adrift in rough seas. Over a thousand mature trees were downed in the Central Belt, as well as power lines. In total, the storm felled 30 sq. mi. (8,000 hectares) of forest across Scotland (2 million cu. yd.; 1.6 million cubic metres of timber). A Glasgow police spokesman said that it was 'absolute havoc' in the city. Electrical power also failed in Glasgow, leaving the whole city in darkness.
England and Wales
In England and Wales, a five-day freeze ended with some roads flooded by up to 3 ft (90 cm) of water. Large waves pounded the English Channel coastline.
Wind speeds
Rest of Europe
In Denmark, officials in Copenhagen said that eight people died in the country from the storm.
Aftermath
After the storm moved away, the death toll continued to rise. 30 people died in accidents during subsequent house repairs. On 16 January 1968, about 150 troops from Edinburgh came to Glasgow to help with the clean-up operation. There was little national press coverage of the storm, despite it affecting most of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. An interest-free loan of £500,000 was given by the Labour Government to the affected areas. Singer Frankie Vaughan began to raise funds for the victims of the storm by holding a special concert at Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow.
After the devastation of the storm in the area, the Glasgow City Council quickly imposed a new policy to improve housing in the city.