Great Sheffield Gale

Great Sheffield Gale of 1962

Synoptic chart of the storm on 16 February
Type	European windstorm
Formed	14 February 1962
Dissipated	18 February 1962
Highest gust	119 mph (192 km/h)
Lowest pressure	950 mb (28 inHg)
Fatalities	9 direct, 347indirect
Areas affected	United Kingdom

TheGreat Sheffield Galeis the name given to an intenseEuropean windstormwhich crossed theUnited Kingdomin mid-February 1962, devastating the city ofSheffieldin theWest Riding of Yorkshire.Nine people were killed across the country, including four in Sheffield;damage in the city was on a widespread and severe scale never before witnessed in a major British city from a European windstorm, and only later matched by the effects of the1968 Scotland storminGlasgow.

Theextratropical cycloneresponsible for the gale subsequently moved over theNorth Sea,contributing to theNorth Sea flood of 1962,a storm surge in which at least 347 people died, predominantly inWest Germany.

Meteorological history

The extratropical cyclone responsible for the gale likely formed over theNorth Atlantic Oceanon 14 February 1962, rapidly intensifying as it passed eastwards overScotlandon 15 February before positioning itself overNorwayon 16 February, with intense winds on the back side of the intensifying system affecting much of the United Kingdom overnight on 15–16 February. Subsequently, the low moved over northernGermanyon 17 February, last being noted the following day.

Being on the leeward side of thePenninesin the prevailing wind direction,Sheffieldis usually relatively protected from the effects of high wind events which may have more serious impacts in surrounding areas. However, on this occasion, the winds were funnelled through the valleys of theRiver Don,River Sheafand other rivers down into the centre of the city, creating higher wind speeds than seen elsewhere in the country inland and at similar altitudes.The cause of this funnelling effect was atemperature inversion,which meant that high winds generated over the higher ground to the west of the city were unable to escape the surface layer, instead effectively "bouncing" off the underside of the inversion layer and being funnelled down into the lower levels of the city.This also gave the winds a variation variable, gusty and turbulent nature, increasing damage further.

Wind speeds

Measuring station	Wind gust
RAF Saxa Vord, Unst,Shetland	177 mph (285 km/h)*
Lowther Hill,Lanarkshire	119 mph (192 km/h)
Kirkwall,Orkney	109 mph (175 km/h)
Tiree,Argyll	100 mph (160 km/h)
Sheffield,Yorkshire	97 mph (156 km/h)
Source: Met Office *unofficial station

Impact

Anemograph trace showing wind speeds in Sheffield on 16 February

Sheffield

The event was notable for the duration of the destructive winds. As shown on theanemographtrace to the right, wind speeds rose very rapidly from relatively calm to a peak of 97 mph (156 km/h) in Sheffield in the early hours of 16 February, and only slowly decreased throughout the course of the day as the low moved out into the North Sea. Thereturn periodfor such an intense storm hitting Sheffield is estimated at once every 150 years.

Damage across the city was extensive, totalling more than £5 million (equivalent to more than £115 million in 2021). Four people were killed and more than 400 people were injured by flying debris and collapsing buildings.A floodlight pylon atBramall Lanefootball and cricket stadium collapsed onto the field, as did perimeter walls at the Shoreham Street end of the ground.NearHeeley railway station,a full train travelling to Sheffield fromLondonnarrowly avoided striking debris on the tracks.

The most widespread damage occurred to pre-fabricated homes on housing estates on the edges of the city,many of which had been hastily constructed to replace houses destroyed in theSheffield Blitzduring theSecond World Warand, as a result, were not built to a high standard. InArbourthornein the south of the city, whole streets of prefabricated homes were flattened.Older properties that had survived the Blitz suffered considerable damage as well, mainly in the form of fallen chimneys and collapsed roofs; all of the deaths recorded in Sheffield were as a result of falling chimneys, either into the property as people sheltered inside or onto the streets outside.

Atower craneon the construction site for the new city centre buildings of the Sheffield College of Technology, nowSheffield Hallam University,collapsed, crashing into the side of the under construction high rises and causing serious damage.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere in theUnited Kingdom,six deaths were recorded in relation to the storm, taking the total across the country to nine.A wind gust of 177 mph (285 km/h) was recorded at an unofficial weather station on Unst in theShetlandislands. Electricity supplies were disrupted across the country, with pylons carrying wires over theRiver Tynein nearNewcastle upon Tyneamongst those that were blown down.There was severe disruption to power supplies acrosssouthern Yorkshireafter the collapse of key power lines in theKnottingleyarea.Fallen trees and other debris caused disruption to road and rail transport.

Aftermath

Following the storm, the British government declared astate of emergencyin Sheffield, designating the city as a disaster area. Emergency services struggled to cope with the scale of the devastation across the city, receiving so many calls that the emergency switchboards repeatedly jammed, preventing others from calling.More than 150,000 homes in the city - or two-thirds of the total housing stock - suffered some form of damage;thousands were damaged beyond repair or totally destroyed, leaving their residents homeless.More than 400 people were treated for injuries.

There were difficulties in finding enough emergency accommodation to temporarily house everybody who had been made homeless from the storm in Sheffield, to the extent that hotel owners as far afield asBlackpool,CleethorpesandMorecambeoffered to host those who had lost their homes.Within Sheffield, schools and churches were used as emergency accommodation.

There was widespread damage to the infrastructure of the city. More than 100 schools across the city were damaged, forcing them to close and limiting emergency accommodation options for those made homeless even further.More than 120 people sought emergency shelter atHurlfield Secondary School.

North Sea flooding

Main article:North Sea flood of 1962

After passing over the north of theUnited Kingdom,the deep low responsible for the Great Sheffield Gale moved first overNorwayand then, overnight on 16–17 February, down into northernGermany.Astorm surgefrom the low, combined with high tide, contributed to the catastrophicNorth Sea flood of 1962.Levees protecting the city ofHamburgfailed, resulting in the deaths of at least 315 people in that city alone.

See also

• Great Sheffield Flood,a more well-known disaster which devastated the city 98 years earlier
• 1968 Scotland storm,caused similar damage inGlasgow
• Cyclone Lothar(1999), brought similarly prolonged high wind speeds toParis

External links

• Footage from British Pathé of storm damage in Sheffield