Kent Weather
__________________________________________________________________________
WHATEVER THE WEATHER
As a nation, we are obsessed with the weather and never more so than in this most changeable of months. But aside from April’s sun and showers, Kent has experienced everything from killer smogs to floods and hurricanes. Here’s the Kent Life ‘top 10’
Our obsession with weather is one of the defining traits of the British character and tuning into the forecast is something most of us do on a daily basis. While there were many devastating hurricanes and storms in medieval times, there were few chroniclers around to record the damage and loss of life.
1. The smog of 1952
No one knows how many died as a direct result of the London fog (or smog) of 5 to 8 December 1952, but in two weeks the death rate in Greater London rose by more than 4,000 and many were Kentish people living on or near the industrial banks of The Thames.
The fog contained localised pockets of a highly poisonous nature due to the concentration of sulphur dioxide and associated gases from factory chimneys which drifted along in the watery blanket. It was the greatest mass killer of the 20th century.
2. The tidal surge of 1953
A storm surge driven by hurricane-force winds smashed through sea wall fortifications, breaching more than 1,200 sites. Whole communities were isolated, 32,000 people had to be evacuated and 307 lost their lives. Kent was lucky. Although the waves swept some five miles inland, affecting every community between Woolwich and the North Foreland, only one person died in the county.
3: The Great Storm of 1987
The power of the wind, which in places exceeded 100 miles an hour, felled an estimated 15 million trees and its ferocity left 19 people dead. Today, the Great Storm has passed into folklore, widely accepted in most of southern England as the meteorological event of the century. Click here for our first-hand story of the Great Storm.
4. The winter of 1947
This was the winter that never stopped. Blizzards, sub-zero temperatures and endless grey skies brought about hardships for several weeks. Food and fuel was scarce following the war. Villages were cut off by drifts for many weeks. The sea froze at Whitstable, Herne Bay and Pegwell Bay and it was possible to walk on the waves.
5. The floods of 1968
The prolonged rainfall of 15 September 1968, which came down with tropical intensity, flooded 2,400 square miles of Kentish countryside with 400 tons per square acre. It was considered one of the most serious natural disasters of the century and it embraced everything within its reach
6. The protracted drought of 1989-1991
The burning years of 1989 and 1990 were the first to bring the words global warming to the forefront, not only among scientists, but in everyday conversation. For two years there was no respite. Rivers and reservoirs dried up, water companies introduced draconian measures, flames spread everywhere with alarming speed and fire fighting sources were depleted.
7 The summer of 1976
Few weather events have captured the imagination of the public as much as the blazing summer of 1976. We were told to put a brick in our cistern to save water, to bath with a friend and we even appointed a minister of drought. Between May and August, Kent received less than 60 per cent of its annual rainfall.
8. The millennium floods
In October 2000 seven inches of rain fell in the river valleys of Kent in less than 12 dramatic hours and urgent flood warnings turned into a horrific reality. Thousands of people were evacuated from communities along the banks of the Medway, 6,000 were stranded at sea on Channel ferries and roads and railways ground to a halt.
9. The winter of 1963
Masses of fine crystalline snow fell on the evening of 29 December 1962 and driven by a severe gale, huge drifts formed across Kent. County wide, a fleet of 300 snowploughs was mobilised, but the task was too gigantic and for motorists and rail passengers it turned into an arctic nightmare. So heavy was the snow and later blizzards, that Kent did not see grass again until March.
10. The storm surge of January 1978
A severe northerly gale whipped up a tidal surge that attacked the east Kent coast with devastating effect. The awesome power of the wind and waves combined to destroy the old piers at Margate and Herne Bay, which were reduced to matchwood. All along the east Kent coast, it was a night of high drama.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Where do you want to go next?
The Editor's blog Kent Farmers' Markets Read Kent interviews Homes and Gardens
The Kent Life Forum Town features Features Subscribe to Kent Life!
Click here to bookmark this page
_________________________________________________________________________________