A depression with a minimum pressure of 971mb, known as Storm Hector, pushed across the UK and Ireland on the evening of 13 June 2018 and brought unseasonably strong winds on the day after which was in huge stark contrast to the fine, settled weather of the preceding few weeks. The strongest winds were across Northern Ireland, North Wales and parts of northern England where a few locations recorded gusts exceeding 60 Kt (69 mph).
Parts of the West Highlands in Scotland had between 50 to 100mm of rain during Hector bringing a washout. June had been bone dry up to that point for a large portion of Scotland so it was a shock to the system.
From the UK Met Office:
The map below shows maximum gust speeds from storm Hector. Gusts of 40 to 50 Kt (46 to 58 mph) were recorded widely across the northern half of the UK and exceeded 50 Kt in more exposed locations. The strongest winds were across Northern Ireland, North Wales and southern Scotland. In Northern Ireland, gusts of 64 Kt (74 mph) and 60 Kt (69 mph) were recorded at Orlock Head, County Down and Ballypatrick Forest, County Antrim respectively. In Wales, a gust of 62 Kt (71 mph) was recorded at Capel Curig, Conwy. In England, gusts of 62 Kt / 60 Kt were recorded at Spadeadam and Shap (both Cumbria). Across Scotland’s mountain summits winds gusted at over 87 Kt (100 mph).
The graph below (also from the UK Met Office) shows the hourly maximum wind gust speeds at several stations in the UK from 00:00 on the 12th June to 00:00 on the 16th June 2018.
It is unusual for a storm of this strength and deep nature to take place in the UK and Ireland during the meteorological Summer season. Highest gust speeds from this event were not far short of the record values for June for Northern Ireland (67 Kt, 76 mph) at Ballykelly, Co. Derry on 23 June 1962, and Wales (63 Kt, 72 mph) at Capel Curig on 23 June 2004. The last time a June gust of 60 Kt was recorded in Northern Ireland was 12 June 1991.
For the Republic of Ireland, the maximum wind gust was 61 knots at Mace Head, Co. Galway, only 1 knot short of Malin Head's 62 knots wind gust on 1 June 2015. Here's some notable Summer wind gusts (at least 55 knots) at Malin Head since 1955. Got to remember that this is Malin Head, Ireland's most northerly point and therefore, it is prone to strong winds majority of the time close to the Polar Jet i.e. jet stream.
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