Highest wind gusts at these stations
Portland Bill: 89.7mph, Thorney Island: 103mph, Jersey: 97mph
Heathrow: 76mph, Gatwick: 99mph, London Weather Cent 94mph
Shoeburyness: 100mph, Stansted: 75mph

Just a request here, did anyone on this ng
experience this? If so what was it like where you lived? I was living in
Australia at the time and missed it.

Gavin Staples.

Leaving a friend's house in Bembridge on the east of Isle of Wight
on the evening of 15th October 1987, I remarked that 'it was getting
a bit windy'. Needless to say, she hasn't let me forget those words
to this day.

I arrived at my parents in Wootton in a gale around 10 PM but it was
not until 2 AM that the wind became a real feature. Situated on a
ridge (tremendous view of the Solent), there was little to stop the
full force of the wind roaring past. Even the lulls were noisy!
In my notes, I estimated the mean speed to be in the order of
55 to 60kt (force 10-11) with gusts 80-85kt. The pressure dipped
to 960mb.

By daybreak, my Heath Robinson check rain gauge (a 5" plastic
funnel weighted down by a stone in a plant pot) had all but vanished,
and the bungalow lost 9 ridge tiles (less damage than that caused by
a lightning strike in May 2000, but that's another story).

Later that morning I took my Grandad on a convoluted drive (nothing
to do with drink!), thanks to a succession of diversions brought about
by downed trees, in order to survey the demise of Shanklin Pier.

What a sight! The scavengers were out on the beach with their metal
detectors as news spread that the amusement arcade had collapsed
into the sea (it wasn't all bad news). This same section also housed
the pier theatre. Some sections were left standing, but badly buckled
with masses of twisted metal, and these were eventually demolished.

Strips of spume had blown across the sea front road, as if the council
had gone mad with zebra crossings, and piles of wood from the pier
was being burned along the promenade, like beacons. Flotsam was
also being collected as souvenirs.

An unforgettable event, and then came 25th January 1990, but that's
yet another story!

Nigel (Romsey, Hampshire).