Great Storm Of 1703

Observers at the time recorded barometric readings as low as 973 millibars (measured by William Derham in South Essex ), but it has been suggested that the storm may have deepened to 950 millibars over the midlands.

The Great Storm also coincided with the increase in English journalism, and was the first weather event to be a news story on a national scale. Special issue broadsheets were produced detailing damage to property and stories of people who had been killed. Daniel Defoe produced his first book, ''The Storm'', published in July 1704, in response to the calamity.

Damage

At sea, many ships were wrecked with about 8,000 lives lost.

The first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed on November 27 , killing six occupants.

The number of Oak trees lost in the New Forest alone was 4,000.

On the Thames , around 700 ships were heaped together in the Pool, the section downstream from London Bridge .

Beliefs and response

The storm was generally reckoned to represent the anger of God . Defoe thought the destruction of the sovereign fleet was a punishment for their poor performance against the Catholic armies of France and Spain during the first year of the War Of The Spanish Succession .

In recognition of the "crying sins of this nation", the government declared December 16 a day of Fasting , saying it "loudly calls for the deepest and most solemn humiliation of our people".

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Great Storm Of 1703