Britain's worst-ever storms as Storm Éowyn heads for UK
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The UK has firmly entered the 2025 storm season with Storm Éowyn forecasted to bring gusts of up to 90mph. Gales threaten to batter the country, and to bring power cuts, travel disruption and damage to buildings, while heavy rain is also expected. As weather predictions for the start of the year look bleak, the Standard looks back at some of the worst storms Britain has ever seen over centuries.
![[Storm Eowyn LIVE: 'Do not travel' alerts as 100mph wind 'red warning' issued by Met Office]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/22/13/22132214-e4965b33-eee5-44cf-aadb-08741d1838a1.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
The Great Storm of 1703, branded a hurricane, lasted for more than a week across the UK, with Southern England affected worst of all – but its impact lasted much longer, with between 8,000 and 15,000 people killed. Conditions led to infrastructure being destroyed as trees were damaged, and some 2,000 chimney stacks across London and 4,000 New Forest oak trees.
![[Drivers urged to postpone unnecessary journeys ahead of Storm Eowyn]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/23/13/d5336dceab5e1dbe550d0252c8113b89Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3NzIyMzYw-2.78412175.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
The Great Blizzard brought with it severe gales and a tremendous amount of snow fall, causing blizzards across Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset. Snow drifts several feet high were left outside people’s homes and the weight of snow caused many roofs to collapse.
![[What is the exact moment Storm Éowyn is expected to hit?]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/20/12/dc5cefae226850943299d772c74a056bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3NDU0MjA4-2.75113785.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
One Victorian documented the experience of living through the ferocious storm and wrote in their journal: “On the morning of 9 March 1891 when the inhabitants of the three westernmost counties in England set about preparing for the routine duties of daily life, nothing seemed to indicate that, with the approach of nightfall, the gravest atmospheric disturbance of the century ... would come to spread terror and destruction throughout town and country ...".
![[All the train cancellations and predicted delays due to Storm Éowyn]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/23/12/55/PA-74736156.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
