A vicious Winter storm, strengthened by a powerful jet stream, brought record-breaking gusts of wind, and rapidly fluctuating temperatures to Bracken House on Friday (9th) and Saturday (10th). The all-time record gust speed was broken when a gust of 49.5 mph was recorded at 06:23 on the 10th, from a westerly direction. One minute later, the January sustained wind speed record was also beaten with a speed of 31.1 mph.
Wind chart for the 24 hours between 21:00 on 09/01/15 and 21:00 on 10/01/15.
Temperature chart for the 24 hours between 21:00 on 09/01/15 and 21:00 on 10/01/15.
The storm also brought some record-breaking temperatures for January. At 17:37 on the 9th, the temperature reached 14.0°C, beating the previous January high of 13.3°C recorded at 16:31 on January 29th 2013. The temperature remained around the 12°C to 14°C mark until the following morning when a cold front passed over. The temperature then fell from 13.3°C at 07:27 to 6.5°C at 10:22, a fall of 6.8°C in under three hours. The temperature continued to fall throughout the day, reaching 2.1°C just before midnight.
Damaged fencing at Bracken House after the January 9th / 10th storm.
Although the storm was nothing compared to the effects felt in Scotland, there was some damage at Bracken House. A 20 yard stretch of fencing was blown down and a holly tree in the hedgerow alongside the house was felled. A solid teak bench was overturned, as were plant pots and garden furniture.
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