London, Europe Brief News – More than eight million trees have been brought down, many are also threatened by another two named storms bearing down on Britain.
Forest managers warn of “catastrophic” damage by Storms Dudley and Eunice.
There are warnings that the heating climate is making our weather more severe and unpredictable. Management and planting strategies must adapt more quickly.
Forest ranger Richard Tanner says that he’s never seen a real battlefield. But the west shore of Windermere now reminds him of photographs he has seen.
“It looks like someone’s set off a bomb.”
All around are the giant root plates of fallen trees, some the size of caravans, studded with rocks torn from the earth.
“There’s three tonnes of tree and then five or six tonnes of earth maybe. We’ve lost thousands and thousands of trees just on this one property.”
Mr Tanner has looked after the South Lakes property of the National Trust for a decade. It includes the crested beech at Wray Castle. It was a champion, with the biggest girth in Britain and Ireland. “But Arwen’s 90mph winds were too much.”
After Storm Arwen in November, 4,000 hectares of woodland were blown down – estimated to be eight million trees.
Since then, Malik and Corrie have struck. The damage is now estimated to be 7,000 hectares – the equivalent of around 10,000 football pitches.
Doug Howieson is the head of Operational Delivery for Scottish Forestry. He says the number of storms this winter is “unprecedented”. He warns that the winds have already “punched holes” in the forests, and Storm Dudley, expected to hit tonight, is likely to make them worse.
“It is critical that we plant in the right place and in the right time now, to shape our future forest’s resilience to climate change.”
Two Storms to Hit UK within This Week
Two storms will hit the UK in the space of three days this week with forecasters warning of 90mph winds across the north of England and Scotland.
Storm Dudley will cross the northern half of the UK from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Storm Eunice will bring strong winds and potentially some snow for parts of the country on Friday.
Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said an active jet stream is driving low-pressure systems across the country. Both of which are likely to cause some disruption.
The warnings mean there is a chance of injury and danger to life from large waves and debris thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.
There is also a risk of falling trees, damage to buildings and power cuts.
Winds could reach 70mph inland, before dying down on Thursday evening.
“There is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage,” the weather warning says.
