Storm waves crashing against a harbour wall

UK storm season 2016/17

The 2016/17 storm season saw five storms named over a period of just over four months.

The first named storm was Storm Angus on 19 November 2016 bringing gusts of up to 84 mph across the south of England. 

The strongest gusts of the season were recorded during Storm Conor and Storm Doris with 94 mph recorded at Sella Ness and Capel Curig.

A-Z of named UK storm names 2016/17

Name

Date named

Date of impact on UK and/or Ireland

Max Gusts and locations

Angus

19 November 2016

20 November 2016

84mph - Guernsey, Channel Islands

81mph - Langdon Bay, Kent

71mph - Jersey, Channel Islands

71mph - Berry Head, Devon

71mph - Needles, Isle of Wight

Barbara

20 December 2016

23 - 24 December 2016

83mph - Sella Ness, Shetland Isles

78mph - Sule Skerry, Orkney

75mph - South Uist, Outer Hebrides

75mph - Mona, Anglesey

71mph - Sumburgh, Shetland Isles

Conor

23 December 2016

25 - 26 December 2016

94mph - Sella Ness, Shetland

89mph - Fair Isle, Shetland

87mph - Lerwick, Shetland

85mph - Baltasound, Shetland

83mph - South Uist, Outer Hebrides

Doris

21 February 2017

23 February 2017

94mph - Capel Curig, Snowdonia

87mph - High Bradfield, South Yorkshire

83mph - Lake Vyrnwy, Powys

82mph - Valley, Snowdonia

82mph - Needles, Isle of Wight

82mph - Aberdaron, Snowdonia

Ewan 25 February 2017 26 February 2017

75mph - Capel Curig, Conwy

66mph - Lerwick, Shetland

64mph - Needles, Isle of Wight

64mph - Lake Vyrnwy

Unused storm names for 2016/17

Fleur, Gabriel, Ivor, Jacqui, Kamil, Louise, Malcolm, Natalie, Oisin, Penelope, Robert, Susan, Thomas, Valerie and Wilbert.

Storm summaries

Storm Angus: 20 November 2016

Storm Angus saw strong wind across the south of England and heavy rainfall causing flooding to parts of southwest England. Storm Angus brought strong gusts particularly to the south and south-west of England with observations of 69 - 81 mph in exposed coastal locations.

In the English Channel, a cargo ship collided with a barge  and a passenger ferry was stranded for 26 hours.  Stormy waves caused damage across the south coast with damaged reported to a sea wall at Swanage, Dorset and the main south-west railway line closed near Exeter due to flood damage. Over 1,000 properties in the south-west of England were left without power.

Storm Barbara: 23-24 December 2016

Storm Barbara brought strong winds to the UK with warnings issued during the festive getaway. Windy weather was experienced across the country, but the focus of the storm was on parts of north and northwest Scotland. 

Over 100 schools were closed in the Highlands were forced to close while train and bus services were disrupted and ferries to the Northern and Western Isles were cancelled. Two planes attempting to land at Stornoway airport were unable to land and forced to return to Aberdeen and Inverness. A subsequent warning was also issued for 26 December 2016 with more strongs winds following shortly after named Storm Conor.

Storm Conor: 25-26 December 2016

Following closely on the heels of Storm Barbara, Storm Conor brought stormy weather on Christmas Day and into Boxing Day, with very strong winds across northern Scotland and the Northern Isles. Gusts were typically between 70 and 80 mph. The power cuts and travel disruption that arose from Storm Barbara were hampered further as Conor moved through, leaving many without power during Christmas Day.

Storm Doris: 23 February 2017

Storm Doris was named on the 21 February as yellow and amber warnings for wind, snow and rain were issued by the Met Office.

Overnight and into the morning of the 23 February, Storm Doris underwent explosive cyclogenesis labelling it a weather bomb. The centre of the storm moved rapidly through Northern Ireland in the early hours, across northern England and out into the North Sea by the early afternoon.

The storm brought heavy snow to Scotland during the morning rush hour causing widespread disruption particularly to transport including the closure of the M80, one of Scotland's busiest motorways. Strong winds and gusts were experienced across the UK particularly in North Wales where a gust of 94 mph was recorded at Capel Curig. 

Transport was widely disrupted with the Dartford Crossing and the Port of Liverpool both closed for time while there were delays and cancellation to train services and flights throughout the day.

Storm Ewan: 26 February 2017

Storm Ewan was the last named storm of the 2016/2017 season, named by the Irish Meteorological Service Met Éireann and brought strong winds to the Republic of Ireland and northern UK on 26 February 2017.

Ewan wasn't a particularly strong storm, and came soon after Storm Doris which brought more widespread disruption across the UK. Ewan was felt more across southern parts of the Republic of Ireland. The storm only had yellow Met Office warnings for wind across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Reports of minor flooding due to wave overtopping and some travel delays at Leeds Bradford airport were seen due to the strong winds.