"Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote in message
...

No tropical cyclone (hurricane or storm) has ever been
reported to have reached north-west Europe
while retaining its tropical characteristics (i.e. warm core)
although "Lili" in 1996 got surprisingly close before it became
extra-tropical, likewise one (I've forgotten its name) in the Bay
of Biscay one October in the early-80s (1981 perhaps?), and
arguably also "Betsy" and "Debbie" in September 1961 which
battered Ireland and western Scotland.

However, we should always bear in mind that we use words
which have specific meanings in the meteorological community
(i.e. jargon, like it or not), but the same words may also be used
much more loosely in everyday English. "Hurricane" is one of these.
Some meteorologists will, without a trace of irony, accuse the
wider population of simply being wrong. I will always remember
the look of fright followed by utter perplexity on Sir John
Houghton's face (the then DG) at a press conference after the
event when his proclamation that "it wasn't a hurricane" was
followed by loud and prolonged laughter. Someone should
have given him a dictionary.

The OED, after giving us the familiar meaning, goes on to
say: "... hence, any storm or tempest in which the wind blows
with terrific violence." The citations which follow show that this
second meaning was in general use by the 1620s, some sixty
years even before the present spelling of the word was in place ...
and I suspect just a little before meteorologists came up with
their classification of tropical storms or Admiral Beaufort
with his scale of wind force.


Many thanks for that Philip ... much appreciated.
Neil Young made good use of the term also ... not sure that Beaufort would
have liked it though (;

Gianna