Storm Daria: Societal and energy impacts in northwest Europe on 25 January 2018

Storm Daria: Societal and energy impacts in northwest Europe on 25 January 2018

In late January 1990, Europe experienced a sequence of severe winter storms that inflicted significant infrastructure damage and numerous fatalities. The storm sequence kicked off with Storm Daria on 25-26 January, which was one of the most devastating events, especially for the United Kingdom. The low pressure center moved from Ireland through southern Scotland and northern Denmark before proceeding into the Baltic Sea. The powerful winds south of the storm path caused widespread destruction and disruptions in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and West Germany.

Media reports highlighted building damage, transportation network outages, power failures, and tragic loss of life. There were also numerous maritime emergencies in the Bay of Biscay, English Channel, North Sea, and Baltic Sea. This contribution takes a closer look at Storm Daria, providing an overview of the meteorological measurements and societal impacts, followed by an analysis of the North Sea tide gauge network to understand the storm surge and potential wave events.

At the time, offshore wind energy was still in the planning stages, but onshore deployments were underway in Denmark with pilot projects emerging in other European countries. Storm Daria serves as an important case study for extreme weather conditions that can impact energy infrastructure.

The year 1990 marked a pivotal turning point in public awareness of the climate change challenge. It saw the publication of the first report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had been convened in 1988 to assess the scientific case for global warming driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. While initial climate change predictions faced opposition from the fossil fuel industry, the IPCC report spurred increased government support for alternative energy programs across Europe.

The rapid growth of onshore wind energy in Europe dates back to the early 1990s. Prior to that, only Denmark and California had substantial wind power deployments supplying a significant portion of their electricity. Feasibility studies for offshore wind farms in Europe began in the 1980s, but the first experimental offshore turbines were not erected until the early 1990s, and the Horns Rev project in Denmark became the first large-scale operational offshore wind farm in 2002.

Storms were anticipated to increase as climate change impacts materialized. The insurance industry, in particular, placed special emphasis on weather events exceeding $1 billion in insured losses, a threshold first reached with Hurricane Alicia in the US in 1984. This trend accelerated in the 1990s with numerous severe storms impacting Europe and North America. Contributing factors included population growth, construction in vulnerable areas, and the occurrence of more intense storms.

In Europe, the sequence of winter storms from late January to early March 1990 was pivotal in defining this emerging insurance loss trend. At the time, Storm Daria topped the global list of $1 billion insured loss storms, though it was later displaced by Japanese Typhoon Mireille in 1991 and then Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

The issue of maritime storms and wave conditions had also been flagged earlier by offshore industries. Following the 1982 loss of the drilling rig Ocean Ranger off Newfoundland, analysts observed increases in significant wave heights across the North Atlantic from the 1970s to 1980s, potentially linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation. However, data quality concerns led later researchers to suggest that long-term atmospheric pressure records provided a more reliable metric for understanding historical storminess patterns.

Alongside the worsening sea state, rogue wave strikes on ships and offshore infrastructure also emerged as a growing concern in the 1990s. This prompted high-profile research initiatives like MAXWAVE to better characterize the frequency and dynamics of these extreme wave events. However, progress has been slow due to the limited availability of unfiltered, high-frequency wave measurements.

This article reviews Storm Daria, covering the environmental conditions and societal impacts based on media reports and scientific literature. It then delves into a detailed analysis of the storm surge using tide gauge water levels and potential links to wave events and maritime incidents. This follows similar studies for other notable North Sea storms like Anatol, Britta, Tilo, Franz, Kyrill, and Xaver.

Storm Daria was the first in a sequence of interconnected storms that traversed the North Atlantic and into Europe between late January and early March 1990. The storm system was linked to an unusual surface pressure configuration featuring a deep low over Iceland and a high over the Azores—a persistent synoptic dipole pattern never observed before.

The Daria low-pressure center rapidly intensified as it moved eastward across the North Atlantic, reaching a central pressure below 950 hPa as it passed over the central North Sea in the early evening of 25 January. Operational weather forecasting at the time was hampered by limitations in numerical models and data availability.

The incredible wind field from Storm Daria caused significant damage. High winds impacted southwest UK in the morning, moving across to London and southeast England in the afternoon. Very strong winds were also reported in France in the mid-afternoon and the Netherlands during the evening rush hour.

Figure 1 shows the measured wind speeds and directions around the time of maximum wind damage in the Netherlands. In addition to the station observations, the map includes offshore wind speeds from the passive microwave ​SSM/I satellite instrument, revealing two distinct high wind areas in the southern and northern North Sea on opposite sides of the low-pressure center.

Radiosonde data provide insights into the vertical wind profile structure, highlighting the extreme upper-level winds above 80 m/s that occurred during the storm—far exceeding the 24 m/s threshold for a “meteorological bomb.” Analyses of convective instability parameters like Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and the Severe Weather Threat (SWEAT) index suggest that the remarkable surface gusts and tornadoes registered in the Netherlands and Germany may have been linked to shallow convective activity forced by the high wind shear.

The offshore wave field generated by Storm Daria was significant, with the Forschungsplattform Nordsee research platform capturing evidence of a shallow, broken cloud field potentially associated with convection cells over the warm sea surface. Wave measurement records indicate that Daria was one of the two most severe offshore storms in the January-February 1990 period, though it did not reach the levels of the later Storm Vivian.

The wave field contributed to notable coastal erosion and flood damage along the North Sea coastlines. Dyke breaches were reported in Germany, forcing evacuations, and coastal flooding occurred in Denmark. There were also numerous maritime emergencies and accidents, especially off the Atlantic coasts of France and the UK, with indications that some of the damage may have been caused by rogue wave strikes.

Figure 2 summarizes the energy-related impacts of Storm Daria, including widespread power outages, wind turbine incidents, and disruptions to nuclear power plants. In the UK, over 1 million customers lost electricity at the peak, with southwestern England particularly hard-hit. Large-scale outages were also reported in northern France, Belgium, and West Germany.

About 10% of Denmark’s ~2,700 wind turbines experienced some form of disruption, mostly production losses as wind speeds exceeded the 25 m/s shutdown threshold, though there were also cases of complete turbine destruction. Natural gas production was impaired in West Germany, and a gas drilling tower collapsed.

In addition to energy infrastructure, the storm had major impacts on transportation networks, buildings, and forestry across northwest Europe. Airports were closed, ferries and trains were disabled, and numerous roads were blocked by fallen trees and overturned vehicles. High-profile building damage included a collapsed cooling tower at a French nuclear plant and the destruction of commercial greenhouses in the Netherlands.

The extensive forest damage was particularly severe, with the UK reporting windfall losses equivalent to 75% of its annual timber harvest and the Netherlands experiencing 23% losses.

Storm Daria’s societal and economic toll was immense, cementing its status as one of the most costly and deadly winter storms to hit Europe in recent decades. The event highlighted the growing risks posed by extreme weather as the effects of climate change became more apparent. In the years since, the European energy sector has been working to enhance the resilience of its infrastructure, from strengthening the power grid to developing more robust wind turbine designs.

As the continent continues its transition to clean energy, lessons learned from historic storms like Daria will be invaluable in ensuring a secure, sustainable, and climate-resilient energy future. The European Future Energy Forum provides a platform for industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to collaborate on these critical challenges.

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