December 24, 1891 



NA TURE 



181 



-whilst on the following day unsettled weather spread to 

 other parts of the United Kingdom, and rain was heavy 

 and persistent over the south of England. 



The daily weather report issued by the Meteorolo- 

 gical Office at 8 o'clock on the morning of the loth showed 

 that the winds were westerly and south-westerly over the 

 whole of the British Islands under the influence of a 

 storm area situated off the north-west of Scotland, the 

 readings at our extreme northern stations being 29*1 inches ; 

 but a fresh fall of the barometer was already in progress 

 at \'alentia, and the wind had there backed to south-south- 

 west. The report added ; " The new depression which is 

 approaching our western coasts is at present too far away 

 to enable us to judge of its size or depth." The telegrams 

 received by the Meteorological Office at 2 o'clock indicated 

 the approach of a serious disturbance ; the barometer was 



Islands, and gales were blowing in most parts of the 

 country. The cyclonic circulation of the winds was com- 

 plete in our islands, the direction being northerly in 

 Ireland, westerly and south- westerly over the Channel 

 and the south of England, southerly on our east coasts; 

 and easterly in Scotland and the northern portion of the 

 Kingdom. The barometer gradients were very steep in 

 the English Channel, as well as in the south-western and 

 south-eastern districts ; and at Scilly force 1 1 of Beaufort's 

 notation was reported from the north-west. At many of 

 the English stations the fall of the barometer since 6 

 o'clock the previous evening exceeded 09 inch, and at 

 Hurst Castle it amounted to an inch, whilst in several 

 places in the south and west the rainfall exceeded an 

 inch in the preceding 24 hours. The gale continued to 

 rage daring the day, and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon the 



Diagram to Illustrate thk Severe Gale of Wednesday, November ii, 1891. 



The barometer is expressed by isobars, the pressure corresponding to each line being given in inches and tenths. The winds are shown by arrows which 

 are drawn flying with the wind. © = a calm ; — ^ = a light»or moderate wind : — >■ = a fresh or strong breese ; .>-♦ = a gale. 



falling rapidly at the south-western stations, and the fall 

 had now extended even to London, and the wind had 

 backed over the whole Kingdom. The evening reports 

 indicated a still further advance of the storm area towards 

 our islands, and the trend of the isobars over the south- 

 western portion of the Kingdom showed that the centre 

 of the disturbance was not far distant to the south-west- 

 ward, whilst moderate south-easterly gales were blowing 

 at the entrance of the English Channel. 



The conditions on the morning of the nth are 

 pictured in the diagram for 8 o'clock, obtained from 

 the weekly weather report of the Meteorological Office, 

 and from this it will be seen that the storm area 

 was central over Pembrokeshire, the lowest reading 

 being 28-36 inches at St. Ann's Head, whilst the mercury 

 was below 29 inches over the entire area of the British 



NO. I I 56, VOL. 45] 



i force of the wind at Dungeness was reported as 12 of 

 j Beaufort's notation, which is the extreme limit of the 

 j scale, and is equivalent to a hurricane, the lowest baro- 

 ; meter reported to the Meteorological Office at this time 

 j being 28"34 inches at Shields. At 6 o'clock on the nth, 

 j the central area of the storm had passed to the eastward 

 of our coasts, as shown by the diagram for that hour, the 

 core or heart of the storm not being far distant from 

 Shields, where the barometer was standing at 28'3i 

 inches, which is apparently the lowest reading recorded 

 in the British Islands during the gale. Strong westerly 

 and north-westerly gales were still blowing over the 

 greater part of the United Kingdom, and the succeeding 

 night was very boisterous, although the gale had every- 

 where subsided before 8 o'clock on the following 

 morning. 



