Waves breaking on sea wall. Credit: Zacarias da Mata

Western Europe hit by worst storm in a decade

23 January 2009 00:00 UTC

Waves breaking on sea wall. Credit: Zacarias da Mata
Waves breaking on sea wall. Credit: Zacarias da Mata

On 23–25 January 2009, Western Europe was hit by a severe storm that killed at least 26 people and caused millions of Euros in damage.

Last Updated

09 June 2022

Published on

22 January 2009

By Cecilie Wettre and HansPeter Roesli (EUMETSAT)

The progress of the storm, one of Western Europe's worst in a decade, was tracked by Meteosat-9.

Most of the human loss and material damage occurred in Spain, where winds greater than 180km/h and 20-metre Atlantic Ocean waves were reported. Waves also killed at least one person in southern Italy. Portugal experienced severe weather with winds of up to 108km/h in Cabo Carvoeiro near Nazaré on the western coast of Portugal, and there were reports of tornados near Batalha.

The first signs of the storm could be seen with infrared and water vapour imagery by Meteosat-9 on 22 January. AEMET, the Spanish State Meteorological Agency reported that a sharp front between a cold, polar airmass and a more temperate and humid airmass formed in the area of the Azores islands. In the Meteosat-9 IR image (Figure 1), the frontal zone is marked with an 'F', while 'B' marks the area where the storm was formed.

Western Europe hit by worst storm in a decade
Figure 1: Meteosat-9 IR, 22 January 18:00 UTC. Source: AEMET

The Meteosat-9 Airmass RGB imagery (Figure 2) shows track of the storm as it blew in from the Atlantic Ocean and left a trail of destruction in south-western France and northern Spain.

Figure 2: Meteosat-9 Airmass RGB, 23 January 00:00 UTC–24 January 06:00 UTC

The effects of the storm could have been even worse if it had not been for the early warning provided by Meteosat-9. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country's response to the storm was better than it had been to the 1999 storm, the worst of last century, Agence France Presse reported.


Additional content

Met-9 Airmass RGB, 24 January 2009, 00:00 UTC, Large Area
Met-9 Airmass RGB with abs. topography 1000hPa (source: ePort)
Meteoalarm warning with 10 m model winds (24 January, source: ePort)