Meteorological history | |
---|---|
Duration | 6 January 1839 |
Extratropical cyclone | |
Highest gusts | 185 km/h (115 mph) |
Lowest pressure | 918 hPa (mbar); 27.11 inHg |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 250–300 |
Damage | £500,000 |
Areas affected | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
The Night of the Big Wind (Irish: Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) was a powerful European windstorm that swept across what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning on the afternoon of 6 January 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred deaths. 20 to 25% of houses in north Dublin were damaged or destroyed, and 42 ships were wrecked.[1] The storm attained a very low barometric pressure of 918 hPa (27.1 inHg) and tracked eastwards to the north of Ireland, with gusts of over 100 knots (185 km/h; 115 mph) before moving across the north of England to continental Europe, where it eventually dissipated. At the time, it was the worst storm to hit Ireland for 300 years.[2][3] Liverpool also suffered severely, with many shipwrecks and much structural damage. 120 people died as a result of such accidents in the city alone. Two major shipwrecks resulted in damage of at least £500,000, equivalent to £56,000,000 in 2023.[4]
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