GREAT STORM
BRITAIN’S ‘mother’ of all storms struck southern England in 1703.
It was even billed as a hurricane by people who recorded the devastating storm on November 26.
One thing for certain the Great Storm of 1703 as it became known, left a trail of death and destruction across a large swathe of Britain stretching from south Wales and the Midlands in the north and East Anglia in the east southwards to the English Channel coast.
At least 8,000 people perished in the storm – many at sea. Two of the worst regions hit were central-south and south-east England –particularly London where Queen Anne was forced to take shelter in a cellar below St James’ Palace as buildings were flattened all around the capital. Westminster Abbey’s lead roof was blown off and the wreckage scattered over a wide area. More than 4,000 oak trees in the New Forest were torn from the ground and it was familiar tale elsewhere in the region. Christchurch Priory was badly damaged and buildings right across the Hampshire including Fordingbridge and Lymington were brought down by the hurricane-force winds. Ships – including British naval boats involved in the war against France- were wrecked all along the English Channel coast. Around 1,000 seamen were estimated to have drowned. And on the River Thames hundreds of boats were piled up and reduced to matchsticks. In London alone, more than 20 people drowned as tidal surge swept along the Thames and about the same number died as a result of falling debris. Hundreds were injured by falling and flying objects blown about by the horrific winds. Journalist and novelist Daniel Defoe who wrote the highly-popular Robinson Crusoe novel described the storm as a hurricane. The very intense low pressure system behind the disaster began its life out in the Atlantic Ocean and then moved quickly east across Ireland and the north English Midlands before heading off into the North Sea and mainland Europe. On the southern flank of the depression were hurricane-force winds reaching estimated speeds of 120mph. Very little rain fell according to reports at the time. Observers said at the time the central air pressure at the eye of the storm could have been as low as 950millibars – the lowest modern barometers show. The Eddystone Lighthouse was also a casualty of the Great Storm of 1703. Eight people inside the lighthouse including the man who built it – Henry Winstanley - lost their lives. A tidal surge was also reported in the south Wales area –resulting in the Bristol Channel area being hit by unusually high waves. Bristol itself was hit by the giant storm-surge. Large areas of the continent were hit by the storm including Denmark, Germany on the Low Countries. Severe gales had battered Britain for the two weeks prior to the Great Storm. October 1987’s storm was a minow compared to 1703’s.