Strongest winds ever recorded in Scotland as Storm Éowyn wreaks havoc

Strong winds have battered the UK this week, but are still way off the record.
-Credit:Reach PLC


Storm Éowyn has made its presence known across much of the UK and Ireland on Friday, with strong winds battering the north-east and large parts of Scotland.

An incredible 114mph gust on the west coast of Ireland has broken the country's record according to Met Eireann, while the UK's highest wind speed as of 12.30pm was recorded at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland.

The 96mph gust is followed by 93mph in Aberdaron in Wales, 92mph in Killowen in Northern Ireland, and 89mph in Port Ellen, Islay, but they are still some way off the record.

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The record is held by the Aberdeenshire town of Fraserburgh, which saw a whopping 142mph wind gust recorded on February 13, 1989.

The extraordinary speed has yet to be broken in the decades since, or in any of the recent named storms that have battered the UK.

On that storm in 1989, Met Office charts recall: "It was very windy, particularly in northern areas, with gusts reaching 92 knots at Butt of Lewis and 93 knots at Benbecula, in the Western Isles and 100knots at Fair Isle.

"At Fraserburgh, Abrdeenshire, the mean wind speed increased very rapidly from 15 knots at 1730 GMT to 60 knots at 1900 GMT.

"As the wind direction veered from southwesterly to north-westerly, a record gust for a low-level station of 123 knots was measured with an hourly mean speed of 66 knots.

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"The high winds disrupted traffic and brought down trees as far south as Leicestershire and North Wales, with buses and high-sided lorries blown over.

"In Dunfermline, Fife Region, nine people were injured when the roof of a hospital ward was blown off."

Storm Éowyn may have brought some terrifying gusts to Scotland, but it still has a long way to go if it is to match the records set back in 1989.

Follow our live blog for all the latest updates on Storm Éowyn as it wreaks havoc across the country.