[23] The Police in Scotland advised the public not to travel, and the Tay, Forth, Skye and Erskine bridges were closed to all traffic. [17] It passed through Sweden with hurricane-force gusts,[18] though its winds and rainfall weakened significantly as it moved over Finland on 10 December. Somebody else came up with a name typical of Scottish resilience, though perhaps a bit long: “It’s not a hurricane. 134 mph (216 km/h) Damage. [4][5][6], The name sparked a trending topic on Twitter, which became one of the top trending hashtags worldwide. The weakening occluded portion of the low—located along its centre—produced south-southeasterly gale-force winds across the peninsula. As we are rarely visited by hurricanes on this side of the Atlantic, we tend not to give huge storms official human names (the great storm of 1987, for example, is called, er, The Great Storm of 1987), so in September the Met Office and its Irish counterpart Met Eireann launched a project to encourage members of the public to come up with potential names for big weather events that could visit these islands over autumn and winter 2015/16. 28 dead (56 injured) Areas affected. [13], After the devastation of the storm in the area, the Glasgow City Council quickly imposed a new policy to improve housing in the city. The idea was that if people were more involved in the process they’d be more likely to develop a greater awareness and healthy understanding of the weather threats. Additionally, heavy rainfall flooded some locations in England, Wales and Sweden. [21] They informed the public to take action and urged them to listen to police warnings. [3], "Destroyed by a devastating blow EVENT: Hurricane Low Q, January 1968", "Great Glasgow Storm – Monday 15 January 1968", "Winds Batter Scotland; Toll Is 20 – Glasgow Hard Hit – Snow Falls in Mideast Storms Lash Europe, Mideast; Scotland Hard Hit", "The "Glasgow Hurricane": A Fifty-year Retrospective", "Snow Storms and Wind Cause Misery in Europe", "Killer Storms Pound Europe, Batter Mideast", List of atmospheric pressure records in Europe, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1968_Scotland_storm&oldid=934279261, Articles with dead external links from September 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 5 January 2020, at 18:09. Just as the name Adolf became markedly less popular after the 1940s, it’s unlikely that people will be lobbying for the re-use of Katrina and Mitch any time soon, due to the widespread devastation they caused. In Swansea, winds of up to 70 mph (110 km/h) were reported. [6] Many people evacuated the then Europe's tallest flats as they began swaying. £30 million (1968 GBP) Casualties. [14] A Glasgow police spokesman said that it was 'absolute havoc' in the city. Although big storms were often named after the saint’s day on which they occurred (and still are to an extent, especially when they appear to come out of nowhere), hurricanes first started getting official human names in 1950, the first being Alice. They sure sound like swell gals, but between them they killed more than 9,000 people and wreaked more than $4.41 billion of damage. [46], Over 70,000 Scottish customers remained without electricity on 9 December, and by 10 December that number had dropped to 2,000. [7][8] Stirling Council also used the Twitter tag. [3] In total the storm felled 8,000 hectares of forest across Scotland (1.6 million cubic metres of timber). My favourite was “Hunners o’ Wind”, followed by Hurricane Radge, Hurricane Bampot and Tropical Storm Mince. The Free University of Berlin names low-pressure systems affecting Europe and gave the name Friedhelm to this storm. Four years ago an intense extratropical cyclone called Friedhelm brought hurricane-force winds to Scotland and other parts of the British Isles. [8] Such high wind speeds in an urban area were equivalent to those witnessed in Paris during Cyclone Lothar in 1999. It was described as Central Scotland's worst natural disaster since records began and the worst gale in the United Kingdom. [20], By 08:00 UTC on 8 December, all schools in the west of Scotland had been closed, while remaining schools in the east were told to close at lunchtime but there were a lot of schools in West Lothian which decided to stay open all day, following advice from the Scottish Government. Further north, a large area of heavy snowfall and rough winds developed, while the heaviest rains occurred to the south of the centre. It’s just a bit blowy ootside.”, This website and its associated newspaper are members of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). [36], The low produced near hurricane-force gusts across the island of Ireland, with the highest winds reported along Northern Ireland coastal areas. [24] High winds toppled a school bus travelling along the A737 near Dalry, North Ayrshire. Friedhelm crossing the British Isles on 8 December 2011, The official name for this storm, designated by the Free University of Berlin, is Cyclone Friedhelm; however, the most common name given to the storm, particularly by media in the United Kingdom, was Hurricane Bawbag. [20] This was the first time the Met Office had ever issued a red alert for wind for the United Kingdom. [41], Storm conditions and heavy rain hit Wales, while hurricane-force winds were confined to the northern regions. People were encouraged to submit their ideas via Facebook and Twitter, and the Met Office was swamped with suggestions. [7] The highest temperature on that day was 11.8 °C (53.2 °F) at St. James's Park, London and the lowest was 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) at Lerwick, Shetland. I took to social media to find out what people I know would go for, and the suggestions knock Nigel, Steve and Phil into a cocked hat. [11] By 08:00 UTC, the low had attained a minimum barometric pressure of 977 hPa (28.9 inHg), bringing gale-force winds to much of western Great Britain. [28], The storm disrupted many of Scotland's public transport services, ScotRail operated a reduced timetable across all parts of the country as a result, and routes from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Perth and Dundee were suspended. In Dublin, the winds uprooted trees, knocked over bins and blew debris through streets. The storm brought gales to much of the British Isles and large parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula, causing widespread power outages and traffic disruptions. A respected arts and political commentator suggested Hurricane Oor Wullie if it was a small one, or Hurricane Begbie if it was particularly brutal. Additionally, the Lowland and Highland areas have different names, depending on the regions. [4][17], After the storm moved away, the death toll continued to rise. Hurricane names are chosen by the World Meteorological Organization. [29] In Campbeltown, Falkirk and Stirling a number of streets were closed after slates and chimneys fell from roofs. In Scotland, the storm was dubbed Hurricane Bawbag, the term bawbag being a Scots vulgar word for “scrotum”, which is also used as an insult. [37] Rail and ferry operators suspended their services, leaving passengers stranded. Family heritage is huge in Scotland, and many people all over the world of Scottish descent proudly bear their surname or know which Scottish clan they belong to. The origins of this violent storm appear to be from a cold front near Bermuda on 13 January 1968. A few buildings sustained minor wind damage to their roofs. [25][26] The high winds generated large waves along coastlines and blew trees and debris into power lines. About 150,000 Scottish households lost power, 70,000 of which still had not had their electricity returned by nightfall. [16] Large waves pounded the English Channel coastline. Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Katrina… The names of hurricanes often carry a lot of history. [10], Because of the high temperature gradient between the warm and cold air masses, the cyclone underwent a phase of explosive deepening. Interestingly enough, though, the decision never to use their names again was less to do with the trauma they might trigger than their importance to the research community. [31] Ferry services in the Western Isles were also affected, with the majority being cancelled. On 8 December, 2011, the strongest winds reached 165mph, necessitating the closure of schools, bridges, roads and numerous businesses, and the ruination of many a high-maintenance hairdo. [7] 700 people were left homeless. While there are an abundance of surnames and clans for Scottish dog names, here are a few of the most popular to get you started. 15 January 1968 began as a mild day, then temperatures grew cooler as the day progressed. [47] Several schools were shut for a second day, including all schools in Orkney, Caithness and the north coast of Sutherland in the Highlands, while some schools were closed in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Shetland, Stirling and the Western Isles.[48]. [16], By 9 December, the low had crossed Great Britain and moved into the North Sea toward western Scandinavia. An interest-free loan of £500,000 was given by the Labour Government to the affected areas. Overall, the storm was the worst to affect Scotland in 10 years,[2] though a stronger storm occurred less than a month afterwards, on 3 January 2012. Despite the severity of its winds, the storm left no deaths in its wake. Small name; huge impact. The last one’s kind of funny, but I suppose you can’t be too flippant about something that might end up ruining people’s lives. [13][14] An overall pressure drop of 44 hPa (1.3 inHg) was observed over just 24 hours, which combined with the extreme winds earned it the label "weather bomb" by meteorologists.