Did Storm Eunice really break records?

Blow by blow

Did Storm Eunice really set a new record for wind speed in England? A 122 mph gust measured at the Needles on the Isle of Wight is, according to the Met Office, provisionally the fastest ever recorded in England. Greater speeds have been measured in Scotland: 173 mph on Cairngorm summit on 20 March 1986 and 142 mph at Fraserburgh on 13 February 1989. Northern Ireland, too, has recorded a faster gust, of 124 mph at Kilkeel, County Down on 12 January 1974. Last week’s record is only provisional. One suspect detail is that it is more than 30 mph faster than any gusts recorded elsewhere. The Isle of Portland saw a maximum gust of 90 mph, Mumbles Head 87 mph and St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight — a few miles along the coast from the Needles and not much less exposed to the wind — a maximum of 84 mph.

Levelling off

How is levelling up going? Growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) by region between 2016 and the second quarter of 2021:

London 10%

East 3.5%

South-West 3.4%

Yorkshire and Humber 3.2%

North-West 1.8%

North-East -0.5%

East Midlands -1%

South-East -1.3%

West Midlands -4.5%

Source: ONS

Flu away

Has flu rebounded this winter as some feared it would? Peak weekly hospitalisation rate, per 100,000 people, for all weeks up to week six of the new year:

2018/19 6.87

2019/20 7.5

2020/21 0.05

2021/22 0.36

Source: UKHSA