The Burns' Day Storm

The winter of 1989-1990 was one of the stormiest and most damaging winters on record, exemplified by Windstorm Daria (commonly referred to as the Burns’ Day storm) on 25th January. A second storm, Windstorm Vivian, buffeted the UK between 26th and 28th February 1990. UK weather related property losses that year reached their highest mark on record (maintained since 1987) at over £4bn (2009 values), mainly driven by losses from this stormy period.

Storm formation and track
Associated damage and insured losses

to Weather and Insurance

 Formation and track

Daria began as a wave on a cold front off the east coast of the United States on 23rd January 1990. It deepened as two baroclinic zones merged and became embedded in an upper trough of a powerful jet stream moving eastward. The system underwent rapid strengthening in the early hours of 25th January, with the central pressure dropping to 968hPa.

The western and south-western flanks of the cyclone brought the most severe winds. Gusts exceeding 46m/s were recorded over a large area of southern England and Wales, with the highest gust speed of 48 m/s measured at Aberporth (McCallum, 1990).

  Damage and Losses

Insured losses for Daria in the UK amounted to £1.9bn (equivalent to £3.5bn in 2009 values), while insured losses in Europe as a whole totalled £3.4bn (£6bn in 2009 values) (Munich Re, 2002). These losses in the UK were equivalent to more than 0.1% of the total insured amount. Damage from Windstorm Vivian on 25th February 25th 1990, which followed a similar track to Daria, resulted in insured losses of £0.5bn (£0.9bn in 2009 values) in the UK, and £1.1bn (£1.9bn in 2009 values) for Europe overall.

Daria was more damaging than the October 1987 windstorm as it had a much wider geographic footprint. Forty seven people lost their lives, and half a million homes were left without power. The death toll was higher than the October 1987 storm due to the fact that it struck during the day, with peak intensities occurring between 0900-1500GMT as the storm tracked across the UK.

The UK Met Office (UKMO, 2007) reported that three million trees were felled during the storm, a significantly lower number than during the October 1987 storm. The fact that there were no leaves on the trees may have contributed to the lower tree damage than October 1987. Another possible contributing factor may have been the exceptionally high damage to trees in 1987. This may have had the effect of removing any weak trees, leaving relatively few trees which were susceptible to wind damage.

to Weather and Insurance

References
McCallum, E. (1990).The Burns' Day Storm, 25 January 1990. Weather 45: 166-173.

Munich Re  (2002). Winter Storms  in Europe  (II)  - Analysis of 1999 Losses and Loss Potentials. Munich, Munich Reinsurance Company: 76.