A severe windstorm that battered the UK more than a century ago produced some of the strongest winds that Britain has ever seen, a team of scientists have found after recovering old weather records.
Old weather measurements, first recorded on paper after Storm Ulysses hit the UK in February 1903, have shed new light on what was one of the most severe storms to have hit the British Isles.
By turning hand-written weather data into digital records, the research team has laid the way to better understand other historical storms, floods and heatwaves. These observations from the past can help experts to understand the risks of extreme weather now and in the future.
Professor Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, led the research. He said: “We knew the storm we analysed was a big one, but we didn’t know our rescued data would show that it is among the top four storms for strongest winds across England and Wales.
Read more at University of Reading
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