6th January 1991: Severe Gales On the 5th and 6th of January 1991, a vigorous low tracked across northern Scotland bringing severe gales along its southern flank across Ireland, England and Wales. There were gusts up to 70mph+ and these brought down trees and power lines. Thousands of homes were blacked out across Ireland and the southwest, the same areas that were just recovering from the Christmas 1990 storm. 13 people died as a result of the gales, 7 in Ireland when a tree crashed onto a minibus.