Overnight and into this morning a serious low pressure system made its way across the British Isles with the most severe conditions hitting during the early hours. The Chimet weather station that sits at the mouth of Chichester Harbour recorded gusts of wind up to 60 knots and one up to 70 just before 6am. 2.5m seas were also battering Haylings beaches just before dawn and although significant the predictions of this system rivalling that of 1987 didnt come to fruition.
The volatile nature of low pressures mean a truly accurate path is extremely hard to predict. Although the formation of the storm was spotted nearly a week ago its path was in question right up until late on Sunday night.
Surveying the damage this morning; there does seem to have been downed trees fences blown over slates/tiles from roofs missing vehicles damaged and boats in Langstone Harbour succumbing to the extreme weather however it wasnt as severe as it could have potentially been.
The wind is forecast to die down throughout the day and by tomorrow well back to calmer conditions much to the relief of many island residents.
One group who love this type of weather are the local and visiting kitesurfing/windsurfing fraternity who were all out in force this weekend and revelling in the conditions on offer. After a fabulous but predominantly windless summer many were excited at the prospect of doing battle with Mother Nature the gale force winds and big waves.
After chatting with a few it was obvious that this kind of phenomena is exactly what these wind addicted types live for.
You can keep up to date with the goings on with our weather by liking the Hayling site Facebook page. Check it out here https://www.facebook.com/haylingisland
Pic courtesy Steve Barrow.
