The St storm, also known as Cyclone Christian and by other names, was a severe European windstorm that hit Northwestern Europe on 27 and 28 October 2013 causing at least 17 deaths. Winds of up to 80–90 mph (130–145 km/h) were forecast for southern England, but the highest windspeed was in Denmark, where a gust of 120.8 mph (194.4 km/h) was recorded in the south of the country on the afternoon of 28 October, the strongest wind recorded in the country's history.

Cyclone Christian

Although it was reported that the storm was named by a clerk at the UK's Met Office, the Met Office themselves have stated that they do not know who named the storm. The storm was named by the Weather Channel UK meteorologist Leon Brown, after the feast of Saint Jude the Apostle, which takes place on 28 October, the day when the storm was expected to be at its height. The name is reported to have been popularised on before being adopted by the media in the United Kingdom.

The storm was named “Christian” on 26 October 2013 by the Free of Berlin's meteorological institute. According to The Guardian, institutions are officially referring to the storm as “Christian”.

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute named the storm “Simone”, based on the Swedish name day list. The European Windstorm Centre, a UK-based forecaster, gave the storm the name “Carmen”.

Poor victim of St. Jude #ukstorm via Instagram

Poor victim of St. Jude # via Instagram

In Essex, the helter-skelter on Clacton Pier was blown down and the orangutan enclosure at Colchester Zoo suffered from roof damage. In London, a crane collapsed on top of the Cabinet Office, closing Whitehall between Horse Guards Avenue and Square. A second crane collapsed in East London, closing the Old Kent Road. Construction sites across London were in lock-down during the storm, Francis Road in Leyton saw a hundred metre long two storey scaffold collapse and in Mayfair's Berkeley Square another large scaffold collapsed. In Hounslow, London, two people were killed when a gas explosion destroyed three houses and damaged two after the storm blew a tree down. In Ipswich, Suffolk, the high winds ripped exterior cladding off buildings overlooking the marina, with brick walls and hoardings also being brought down leading to road closures.

What still and St. Jude stopped #southern #ukstorm via Instagram

What still and St. Jude stopped.

Disruption

  • More than 850,000 homes lost power in the UK.
  • At Luton, Devon, on 27 October, an 89 feet (27 m) tall wind turbine was blown down.
  • Both nuclear power reactors at Dungeness B were shut down due to weather-related circumstances, with operator EDF Energy expecting generation on the site to be off for seven days after power to the site was cut, and the reactors shut down safely in response.
  • In the United Kingdom, 130 flights from Heathrow Airport were cancelled in total.
  • Network dealt with a landslip and more than a hundred fallen trees. An empty passenger train hit a fallen tree near Ivybridge, Devon.
  • East Coast Trains warned travellers that a revised timetable would be in force. Trains south of York would run at a reduced speed.
  • East Midlands Trains cancelled all services in to and out of St Pancras until 10:00 on 28 October. The Nottingham to Norwich services were also cancelled until 10:00.
  • First Capital Connect announced that they did not expect to run any services before 09:00 on 28 October.
  • Greater Anglia announced that they did not expect to run any services before 09:00 on 28 October.
  • London Overground cancelled all trains due to depart before 09:00.
  • Southern announced that it was highly unlikely to run any service before 09:00 on 28 October.
  • Southwest Trains cancelled all trains due to depart before 08:00 of 28 October, and warned of delays as those trains running would be restricted to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). It also warned people not to travel on 28 October and stated that a significantly reduced timetable would be operating.
  • TfL reported that services on six lines were affected on account of debris on the tracks.
  • The A249 Sheppey Crossing in Kent was closed on 27 October due to high winds. A diversion was put in place via the Kingsferry Bridge.
  • The A282 Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford, Kent was closed.
  • The M4 Second Severn Crossing was closed to traffic from 19:00 on 27 October due to high winds. The M48 Severn Bridge was also closed.
  • Whitehall in London between Horse Guards Avenue and Parliament Square was closed because of a collapsed crane on the Cabinet Office.
  • The Port of Dover was closed between 06:00 and 09:30 on 28 October; two P&O ferries with a total of 463 passengers on board were held at in The Downs, off Deal, Kent.
  • Brittany Ferries cancelled a number of sailings on 27 October. The 16:30 from Roscoff, Finistère, France to Plymouth, Devon and the 23:00 from Plymouth to Roscoff.
  • Sailings between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly, operated by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company‘s Scillonian III, were cancelled.
  • The Fal River ferry in Cornwall was suspended.
  • Irish Ferries cancelled services between Holyhead, and Dublin.
  • Condor Ferries cancelled its sailings on the Poole–Weymouth–Channel Islands route and also those between Saint-Malo and the Channel Islands.
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