2. Formation of Depressions Depressions, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones, are areas of low pressure located between 30° and 60° latitude. Depressions develop when warm air from the sub-tropics meets cold air from the polar regions. There is a favourite meeting place in the mid-Atlantic for cold polar air and warm sub- tropical air. Depressions usually have well defined warm and cold fronts, as the warm air is forced to rise above the cold air. Fronts and depressions have a birth, lifetime and death; and according to the stage at which they are encountered, so does the weather intensity vary. A depression appears on a synoptic (weather) chart as a set of closed curved isobars with winds circulating anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the rotation of the Earth. The warm and cold fronts associated with depressions bring with them characteristically unsettled weather. Depressions vary from between 200 and 2,000 miles in diameter; they may be deep when pressure at their centre is very low and the isobars are tightly packed, or shallow when less well developed.

3. Images of Depressions Satellite image of a depressionSynoptic chart image of a depression

4. The area most affected by the storm was below a lone connecting Southampton to London to Norwich

5. Social Impacts of the Storm The storm killed 18 people. About 1/6 th of the people in Britain put in insurance claims on their homes after the storm due to damage. Fallen trees covered the roads and railways meaning travel was difficult. Many people were without power due to the loss of power lines and some did not regain it for 2 weeks after the storm.

6. Economic Impacts of the Storm Over 1/6 th of the population had to put in insurance claims due to damage. The storm caused 1.5 Billion Pounds in damage.

7. Environmental Impacts of the Storm Already saturated soil from days of rain beforehand caused an estimated 15 million trees to be lost due to the fierce winds. Many of the fallen trees blocked road and rail connections. 6 of the 7 famous trees at Sevenoaks were lost.

8. Was the Storm a Hurricane? When Michael Fish made the statement "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way… well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't“ he was not entirely wrong. The storm was not a hurricane as it was neither tropical or sub-tropical. The storm was in fact caused by cold front in the Bay of Biscay that met with cold air coming from the north. When the two systems collided, a severe low pressure front developed with a central pressure of 958 mbar. This is comparable to a category 3 hurricane which also has a central pressure between 945 and 964 mbar. How the low pressure system could develop is still a mystery, but one theory is that it was as a result of the jet stream coming from America in the wake of Hurricane Floyd and exceptionally warm weather of the Bay of Biscay.