 Ulli located over the North Sea off the eastern coast of Scotland on 3 January 2012. | |
| Type | Extratropical cyclone,Ice storm,Winter storm |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 31, 2011 |
| Dissipated | January 7, 2012[1] |
| Highest gust | 107 mph (172 km/h) inIJmuiden,Netherlands[2] |
| Lowest pressure | 952 millibars (28.1 inHg) |
| Fatalities | 2 total, 1 missing |
| Damage | $306 million (2012 USD)[3] |
| Areas affected | Eastern Canada,United Kingdom,Ireland,Netherlands,Germany,Scandinavia |
Cyclone Ulli[4] (also namedCyclone Emil by theNorwegian Meteorological Institute[5]) was an intenseEuropean windstorm. Forming on December 31, 2011 off the coast ofNew Jersey, Ulli began a rapid strengthening phase on January 2 as it sped across the Atlantic.[6][7] Ulli was the costliest disaster in January 2012 globally.[8] The damage from the storm in Glasgow was also compared to astorm in 1968.[9]
Ulli was one of many storms to affect Europe during the winter of 2011–2012. The storm clustering began in late-November whenXaver andYoda hit the United Kingdom and Norway. In early to mid-December,Friedhelm,Hergen andJoachim hit northern Europe. Another storm,Patrick hit Scandinavia on Christmas Day.[10] Ulli was followed byAndrea which formed the next day and struck northern Europe on 5 January.[11]
The system was first noted over theUnited States Midwest as asurface trough.[12] The storm moved offshore on December 31, 2011, when it was named Ulli by theFree University of Berlin.[4] The low deepened slightly to 1,000 mb (30 inHg) by January 1, 2012 while south ofNova Scotia.[13][14] By January 2, the storm system was located just east ofNewfoundland.[7][15] From 1800 UTC January 2 to 0000 UTC January 3, the barometric pressure of Ulli plummeted from 983 mb (29.0 inHg) to 970 mb (29 inHg). By midnight on January 3, Ulli was situated to the northwest ofScotland.[16] The storm then made landfall on Scotland during the early morning the same day with a central pressure of 952 mb (28.1 inHg).[7][17] Hours later, the storm was namedEmil by the Norwegian Weather Service.[5] By January 4, the storm was centered over southernNorway and it slowly moved across toFinland the next day.[7][18][19] Ulli began to rapidly weaken as it stalled on January 6, and was absorbed by Windstorm Andrea on January 7.[1] The storm has been proposed as displaying aSting jet.[20]
In the late hours of January 1,Met Éireann issued a national severe weather warning for Connacht and Ulster and forecasters predicting winds speeds up to 87 mph with heavy driving rain. On January 2, theMet Office issued an amber weather warning for most of Scotland for heavy snow and strong winds.[21] Forecasters predicted wind speeds up to 80 mph, and heavy rain, leading to localized flooding.[22] During the late hours of January 2, theEuropean Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX) issued a Level Two warning for southeastEngland, theNetherlands, northBelgium, northGermany andDenmark.
All low pressure areas that affectEurope are named by theFree University of Berlin.[23] On some occasions, storms that affectNorway are named by the Norwegian Weather Service.[24] The Free University of Berlin have six lists of names which they use each year. Every odd year they use male names, while every even year they use female names.[23]
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Prior to the passage of Ulli, many parts of the UK saw heavy squally downpours on January 2.[citation needed] On January 3, theKingston,Erskine,Tay andForth bridges were closed due to high winds. Major travel disruption which resulted in many bus, rail and ferry services being withdrawn.[7][21][25] Winds gusted to 102 mph (164 km/h) inEdinburgh and 105 mph (169 km/h) inMalin Head. Wind gusts were higher inGreat Dun Fell in theNorth Pennines, where winds gusted to 106 mph (171 km/h).[7][26][27] The storm hit Scotland during a public holiday[28] which helped reduced the number of people travelling about. A man was killed inKent after an oak tree fell on his car, while another man was killed after being injured on board a tanker in theEnglish Channel.[25][29] A man was later reported missing in Scotland.[30]
10,000 people were left without power inNorthern Ireland due to the storm.[27] While inScotland approximately 140,000 homes were left without power, by 5 January the number had dropped to around 10,000.[31] During the course of the storm over 488 weather-related incidents were reported inStrathclyde area, with 170 being reported in theLothians, andFife having more than a 100 reports.[32]
A tornado, which uprooted trees and damaged roofs, touched down inHainault,London later in the day.[33][34] Another tornado was reported about 30 minutes later inClacton-on-Sea.[35]Epsom Downs Racecourse was evacuated after sustaining partial damage to the roof of the grandstand.[36][37] Over 90 severe wind gust reports were submitted to the European Severe Weather Database.[38] Torrential downpours affected parts of southern England and intoFrance.[39] The Met Office were also criticized because of the late upgrade from amber to red warnings in the Central Belt.[40] TheScottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) also issued 10 flood warnings and 12 flood alerts for Scotland.[41][42]
The Dutch Coastguard reported ameteotsunami atIJmuiden on January 3 with sea level rising and falling 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in just 30 minutes as the storm passed.[20]In Germany on January 3, a storm warning was issued for theNorth Sea coast and higher altitudes.[43] Trucks were blown over by 100 km/h (62 mph) winds inNorth Rhine-Westphalia. In the same area, one family had their roof blown off their house.[44] Coastal regions were also battered by large waves with ferry passengers having to walk through flood water to disembark. An infant in a pram was also blown into a canal by strong winds nearHannover. His mother dived in to save him and both survived.[44]
Ulli was the strongest storm in Denmark in seven years.[45] Winds from the storm began to affectJutland on the afternoon of January 3. InSkagen a 300 square metre roof of a fish processing factory was blown off.[46] A ferry broke loose in the storm requiring two tugs to secure it,[47] and ferry links between Denmark and Norway were cancelled. InAalborg high winds brought down a gable wall of a student block at Construction College,[48] toppled scaffolding,[49] and brought down a five-story glazed aluminium staircase.[50]The storm continued across theKattegat to affect the Swedish west coast with power outages, blocked roads and cancellation of train services.[51]
Forecasters began to predict another storm that would make its way across the North Sea in the coming days, which had already namedAndrea.[52][53] Winds were expected to reach 140 km/h (87 mph) on Wednesday night into Thursday inGermany.[54] German meteorologists said that the new storm looked more toxic than Ulli.[55] They also said thatAndrea was stronger than Ulli, however, the storm was weaker thanKyrill.[56] TheMet Office issued yellow warnings for wind and rain for parts ofEngland andWales.[7]
Due to the unstable post-frontal environment, SkyWarn UK issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Scotland, Wales and the east coast of England for January 4 and January 5.[57] Since dawn on January 4, hundreds of engineers were trying to restore power to over 50,000 homes in the UK.[58]
| Country | Highest Gust | Location |
|---|---|---|
 Ireland | 169 km/h | Malin Head |
 United Kingdom | 171 km/h | Great Dun Fell |
 Netherlands | 172 km/h | IJmuiden |
 Belgium | 127 km/h | De Haan |
 Luxembourg | 114 km/h | Wiltz |
 Germany | 166 km/h | Schwarzwald |
 France | 133 km/h | Calais |
 Denmark | 167 km/h | Thyborøn |
 Sweden | 164 km/h | Tjörn |
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