Storm Kyrill and the storms of mid-January 2007: Societal and Energy Impacts in Europe

Abstract

January 2007 was a stormy period in Europe with impacts on societal infrastructure and implications for energy meteorology. A series of cyclones tracked across the North Atlantic and into Europe during the two week period 8–22 January 2007. For many parts of Europe, Storm Kyrill on 18 January 2007 was the most important of these for the infrastructure damage that it caused. It had the highest European storm-related insurance losses in recent history. The storm spawned a high intensity derecho that started in Germany and travelled across eastern Europe into the Black Sea region. It was associated with severe convection, lightning, several tornadoes, and strong wind gusts. The storm caused over 50 fatalities, widespread disruption of transport and power networks, and a lot of forest damage. The highest coastal water levels for the month at many tide gauge stations in northwest Europe (and also for the year, in some cases) were registered during Storm Kyrill. This contribution presents a literature review of the storm characteristics and its impacts. This is followed by an analysis of the North Sea tide gauge data to assess the storm surge, tidal variation, and short-period seiche component around the North Sea. The water level information is compared with shipping accidents and offshore incidents to assess possible links. Unusually large waves had been registered at the FINO1 offshore wind energy research platform and off the northern coast of the Netherlands only a couple of months previously on 1 November 2006. While Storm Kyrill caused a lot of societal damage on land areas, there was comparatively little coastal damage around the North Sea and few reports of offshore infrastructure damage linked to wave strikes.