Weather in the NEWS Welcome to 2000!
	Mid-day on 1st January 2000 - the whole Earth as seen from Meteosat in geo-stationary orbit above the Equator and Greenwich Meridian (0°N, 0°W). After the Christmas storms, Europe faced the New Year with calmer skies although rain over Western Europe dampened the midnight festivities - but not enough to prevent tonnes of fireworks from being launched into the low cloud!

Western Europe devastated by Christmas storms The last weeks of December 1999 saw a series of intense Atlantic depressions sweeping in and across Western Europe leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. The Winter Solstice, on December 22nd, saw an unusual combination of Full Moon and orbital perigee resulting in far higher than normal tidal conditions. The weather conditions created an additional storm surge bringing the tidal maximum even higher than predicted. Britain's Environment Agency issued flood warnings for most rivers in the South West region and for coastal areas from Hampshire to Kent. Intense rainfall from the first of a series of storms caused already swollen rivers to flood. In the South West, several inches of rain fell in just a few hours and the River Tamar burst its banks at Polson Bridge (near Launceston) trapping Christmas party revellers in their minibus. On the way home from a party, they had to be rescued by helicopters from RNAS Culdrose. The high tides flooded land at Selsey (West Sussex) and Pevensey Bay (East Sussex) where many householders had to be evacuated to safe community accommodation in the last few days before Christmas. The sequence of Meteosat images shows the passage of the series of depressions over the period 23rd - 26th December. The first image shows a frontal system moving away across France and Germany - having dropped heavy rain across the UK, snow fell across Europe. The next system can be seen deepening to the west of Ireland.

23rd December 1999

Christmas Eve - and a deep depression to the north of Scotland brings gale and storm force winds across the UK - Met. Office issue Severe Weather warnings with threat of structural damage in 70mph plus winds. More heavy rainfall as the frontal system moves across the UK.

24th December 1999

Patchy sunshine and showers across the UK for Christmas Day - something of a lull between storms. Some of the showers are heavy with hail in the trailing edge of the cold front - snow showers in London and the South East. In the Bay of Biscay, conditions create the development of an intense depression that rushes across northern France in the early hours of 26th December.

25th December 1999 - Christmas Day

An intense depression tracked across Northern France in the early hours - and can be seen in this image as it moves eastwards across Germany. The Christmas storm brought torrential rain and record-breaking winds with Meteo France reporting gusts of 110mph at Paris (Orly) airport. Both Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports were closed as the winds made safe flying impossible. In Paris, 4,000 trees were uprooted in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles and damage at the Disneyland Paris park meant that management closed the park until further notice. Damage across France, Germany and Switzerland was extensive. More than 100 people were killed across Europe - most as a result of falling trees or buildings. A woman walking her dog was drowned when high winds blew her into the Rhine. 4 people were killed in the UK with heavy rain making flood conditions worse.

26th December 1999

The devastation did not stop as the Boxing Day storm blew itself out across Central Europe. On 28th December another deep depression moved in from the Atlantic to bring high winds (90mph +) and more devastation to southern France and Spain. Already hard pressed after the damage caused by the storm of 26th December, French emergency services were stretched by this latest storm that left a further 12 people dead. Five more were killed in Spain and the main Madrid-Paris rail services were interrupted. French power company, EDF, was working to restore power to some 1.5 million homes across the north of the country when the new storm disrupted supplies to a further 1 million across the south. Things to do.... Check the weather records for your local area. How much rain fell over the Christmas holiday period? Were any flood warnings in force for local rivers? What was the highest wind speed recorded? Was there any damage? Can you collect reports from local newspapers or, first hand, from friends and family.

Earlier news pages are also available: 1999 December 1999 - Winter approaches, the Winter Solstice November 1999 - Cyclone devastation in India October 1999 - Hurricanes sweep across Caribbean and SE USA September 1999 - Total eclipse over Europe - hurricane season gets under way August 1999 - Brilliant sunny summer - and flash floods kill 19 in Switzerland July 1999 - Summer across the UK June 1999 - the Summer solstice (longest day) May 1999 - Warm weather in the UK - tornadoes in the USA April 1999 - Weather difficulties for high-tech weapons in the Balkans March 1999 - Spring arrives - and alpine avalanches February 1999 - Flooding across southern England January 1999 - Storms lashed both northern and southern hemispheres Return to main Weather index page Page update:   Online weather resources: St. Vincent College 1995 - 2000