2013-2014 Atlantic winter storms in Europe

2013–14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe

NOAA North Atlantic wind speed anomaly January–February 2014
Type	Extratropical cyclones European windstorms

Bernd

Formed	17 December 2013
Dissipated	21 December 2013
Lowest pressure	947 hectopascals (28.0 inHg)

Dirk

Formed	21 December 2013
Dissipated	28 December 2013
Lowest pressure	929 hectopascals (27.4 inHg)

Erich

Formed	25 December 2013
Dissipated	1 January 2014
Lowest pressure	944 hectopascals (27.9 inHg)

2013–14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe were a series of winter storms affecting areas of Atlantic Europe and beyond. The French Atlantic coastal regions (chiefly Brittany), South West and Southern England, West Wales, Ireland, Spanish Atlantic coastal regions (particularly Galicia) were especially affected by a "conveyor belt" series of high-precipitation storms (mostly not exceptional for their winds) and by high tides. Many storms were explosively deepened by a strong jet stream, many deepening below 950 hPa. The repeated formation of large deep lows over the Atlantic brought storm surges and large waves which coincided with some of the highest astronomical tides of the year and caused coastal damage. The low pressure areas brought heavy rainfalls which led to flooding, which became most severe over parts of England such as at the Somerset Levels. The repeated storms fit into a pattern of disturbed weather in the Northern Hemisphere, which saw from November 2013 a disturbance to the jet stream in the western Pacific, which propagated eastwards bringing a warm winter to Alaska, drought to California, and repeated cold air outbreaks to the eastern USA where the 2013–14 North American cold wave resulted.

The end of October brought the St. Jude storm, ranked within the top 10 most severe storms in the autumn across southern England in the last 40 years. following the St. Jude storm a series of low pressure systems swept across western Europe bringing winds and rain, though not developing anywhere near as deeply as the St. Jude storm. A low named Godehard was the strongest of these low pressure areas and brought some disruption to Wales, with a gust of 89 miles per hour (143 km/h) recorded at Mumbles. Storm-force winds left 10,000 homes without electricity in Wales on the first weekend of November 2013. On 2 November the M4 Motorway was closed between Margam and Pyle due to the weather, and a roof canopy at the Princess of Wales Hospital Bridgend was damaged. The old Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway was closed, with speed restrictions in place on the Second Severn Crossing. The M4 at Briton Ferry -where the motorway crosses the Neath- also saw speed restrictions and the Britannia Bridge to Anglesey and the Cleddau Bridge in Pembrokeshire also saw speed restrictions enacted. Natural Resources Wales warned of localised flooding with sea spray and overtopping of sea defences along the Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Newport coasts. The low pressure also brought large waves to Aberystwyth which caused some disruption to seafront properties.