December 1981 windstorm

The European storm, December 13, 1981 was a severe storm that particularly affected southern England, Wales and south west France during December 13, 1981.

In England, the storm started with violent winds and snow, which reached Cornwall during the morning. Prior its arrival a number of record low temperatures were reached for December, with -25.2C at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire,^[1] -5.5C in Southampton,^[2] while in Wales a record of -22.7C was recorded at Corwen in Denbighshire.

In the evening high tides combined with a storm surge resulted in the highest water levels recorded in the Bristol Channel since the start of the 20th century, causing extensive flooding and damage estimated at £6 million along the Somerset coast.^[3][4] Water from melting snow, caused by milder weather accompanying the depression, added to the flooding.^[4]

In France, the storm caused widespread flooding in the south west, causing considerable damage in the river basins of the Garonne and Adour and flooding the city of Bordeaux.^[5]

See also

• Great Storm of 1987
• Bristol Channel floods, 1607
• 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood - caused by a similar storm
• European windstorms

References

1. ^ Philip Eden: Snowiest of 20th century- weatheronline.co.uk, accessed 2011-03-25
2. ^ Weather forecasters predict -12 tonight in Hampshire Southern Daily Echo, published 2010-12-02, accessed 2011-03-25
3. ^ Storm surge prediction in the Bristol Channel--the floods of 13 December 1981 R. Proctor, R.A. Flather, Continental Shelf Research, Volume 9, Issue 10, October 1989, Pages 889-918, ISSN 0278-4343, DOI: 10.1016/0278-4343(89)90064-2, accessed 2011-03-25
4. ^ ^{a b} 1981 Storm in photos - December 13th 1981 Burnham-On-Sea.com published 2006-12-13, accessed 2011-03-25
5. ^ Inondations généralisées sur le Sud-Ouest Météo-France, accessed 2011-03-25