The Great Storm of 1987 - 25 years on...

Twenty five years ago today, people across the south of England were waking up to scenes of devastation, assuming they had managed to get any sleep.
The great storm of 1987 cut across the southern counties of the UK.
I've already posted about Michael Fish's (in)famous forecast, which even featured in the Opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

The Guardian has an interactive map. This shows the storm track and some key facts about the event.

There is an interesting discussion to be had about whether this was, in the longer term, a benefit in terms of tree health and conservation by changing the methods of management.
It's similar to the arguments in 'Fire Season', which I read over the summer, which describes the change in attitude towards fighting forest fires.
Locally, in Norfolk, there was damage to places like Blickling Hall gardens, where several hundred trees were toppled. They were replanted with 365 trees...

Kent Online has a special feature. Kent was particularly badly hit by the storm.
An interactive graphic shows images of some of the damage.

At the time, I was living in Rotherham, and wasn't affected by the storm....

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