The run up to Christmas 1998 had been very unsettled and the day itself was mild and wet. A low pressure system was moving across the Atlantic and deepening as it moved towards the UK, by midnight on the 27th December, it had deepened to 955mb. Along it's southern flank, winds gusted up to over 100mph, 103mph at Prestwick Airport was recorded. The worst hit areas were northern England and Wales, Northern Ireland, southern and central Scotland, where there was structural damage to buildings, trees uprooted and power failures. 5 people died because of the gales. I remember it being particularly windy that evening.

Forecasts from that Christmas period of 1998. It was one of my first converted videos I did, so some corruptions in the process occurred

Remember David Lee as a BBC Weather presenter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7zU0nAYJZU

 

 

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I remember that - quite violent spell of weather and was windy here as well.

 

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I remember that very well... I was living near Alnmouth Northumberland at the time. The morning started calm and still with an overcast sky, the winds picked up quickly during the afternoon and reached a peak around 11pm. 104mph was recorded I believe, the next morning the kitchen window had the perfect print of the leaves that had been blown and pressed to the glass by the strength of the wind.

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