Storms, Britain, Northern France

We had heavy winds in Paris yesterday for about 2 hours, very gusty.
A friend said he saw some materials detached from roof tops.

Earl

**



January 12, 2004

Storm will pass by, but another is on the way
BY PA NEWS

Britain looks to set to escape a battering by severe gale force winds today,
but another storm set to sweep parts of the country tonight will be worse
than expected, forecasters said.

A severe storm had been expected to hit southern England today, with
forecasters originally predicting winds of up to 90mph and torrential rain.

The storm is now expected to pass to the south of the country, with severe
winds affecting the English Channel instead, according to Michael Dukes, of
the PA WeatherCentre.

He warned that this would provide only temporary respite however, as another
storm forecast to hit tonight would be worse than feared.

The Cunard shipping line has insisted however that Queen Mary 2, the world's
biggest and most expensive cruise ship, would still set sail on her maiden
voyage from Southampton at 5pm today, regardless of the weather.

Mr Dukes said: "The storm [today] is going to track a bit further south than
we expected, which means the strong winds will be in the English Channel and
France, so we are missing them * which is good news for everybody.

"It will not be as bad as we feared, but the next storm coming in tonight
will be worse than we expected. There will be severe gales over southern
Britain tonight. We could see gusts of 60-70mph across the south," he said.

Mr Dukes added that the winds today were likely to reach only 50mph, but
warned that they could be stronger along the coastline of the English
Channel.

South Wales and the South West of England would be worst affected by
tonight's storm, he said.

A spokesman for Cunard said that the only thing that could be affected on
the QM2 by the weather was the scheduled firework display, which might have
to be cancelled if the winds become too strong.

The spokesman added that organisers were still expecting large crowds to see
the liner set sail this afternoon. "She is built to go through the worst
Atlantic storms," he said. "If she was a normal cruise ship there may be an
impact, but the QM2 is constructed for this.

"The only possible change there could be will be to the firework display to
send her off."

The Environment Agency has issued 29 flood watches * its lowest level of
warning: 21 of which are in the South West, four in the Thames region, two
in the Anglian region and two in the South.

It has also issued a flood warning * the next most serious level * in the
South West on the River Strat near Bude in Cornwall, from Bush to
Helebridge.

In the South West yesterday, a*tornado measuring hundreds of feet high raced
along the Bristol Channel during a winter storm.

Nigel Evans, a businessman, spotted a waterspout heading up the channel from
the window of his home on Barry Island in south Wales. He rushed out to see
the tornado lift sea spray 50ft into the air as it moved up the channel,
before dissipating soon after it had touched dry land.

"There was a couple of bits of thunder and lightning so I went to the
window, looked outside and saw a tornado just touching down in the channel,"
he said. "Some people said it travelled for about 20 minutes."

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 15:57:18 +0100, Earl Evleth
wrote:

We had heavy winds in Paris yesterday for about 2 hours, very gusty.
A friend said he saw some materials detached from roof tops.

Earl


Nigel Evans, a businessman, spotted a waterspout heading up the channel from
the window of his home on Barry Island in south Wales. He rushed out to see
the tornado lift sea spray 50ft into the air as it moved up the channel,
before dissipating soon after it had touched dry land.

Actually 2,000 ft at highest point according to article in "The
Scotsman"

"There was a couple of bits of thunder and lightning so I went to the
window, looked outside and saw a tornado just touching down in the channel,"
he said. "Some people said it travelled for about 20 minutes."

Winds last night/this morning up to 70 mph.

Now breezy, chilly, but bright sunshine, terrific visibility.

Keith
Bristol
UK