Storm Xaver

Storm Xaver formed in the North-mid Atlantic south of the coast of Greenland, deepening as they tracked towards the UK. However it remained further North and didn’t make landfall. IT instead tracked South East into the North Sea at its lowest pressure of 962mb before moving east and making landfall in Europe

•  gusts of wind upto 142mph in Scotland and sustained winds of 82mph

• Killed 2 people - one by a falling tree and another in a blown over lorry 
• Trains were cancelled/severely delayed because of debris on the tracks
• 135,000 homes lost power across Scotland, N. Ireland, Northeast England and East Anglia
• Storm surge of 5m - submerged 200homes on the Northfold coastline were submerged or washed into the sea as the water inundated the coastal town
• Flooding was especially severe because of the storm surge - The River Humber reached a record 5.8m behind the flood defences in the city of hull – an unprecedented flood event even though the defences held. However, in Wells in Norfolk where the defences are considerably less, numerous homes were dragged onto the beach as the water eroded away the small cliff on which they stood

• issued amber weather warnings, which tells residents in vulnerable areas to be prepared
• The advanced warning was also crucial in mitigating the impacts of the storm. In Wells in Norfolk for example, local neighbourhood watches and emergency groups went around the coastal homes and helped people to evacuate their homes as well as aiding with sandbagging businesses to minimise the flooding they would experience. 
• Port Authorities could anchor all ferries out in deep water

• power companies in Scotland revoked all holiday time and brought in every available worker so that power could be restored as quickly as possible to the 135,000 homes without power. This effort paid off greatly as within in days all homes had power, much to the relief of residents who wear left without heating in cold winter weather
• The EA is considering abandoning some land and allowing it to flood permanenetly
• 373 acres in East Anglia was still underwater in JAnuary and some defences and freshwater habitants may not be repaired along the Norfol and Suffolk Coasts
• The agency secured £1.5 million to complete the works after the highest surge ever recorded in the estuary brought destruction to defences along the south Humber bank from Whitton to East Halton