BBC and the Climate Con.

Just in case you might believe all the BBC's subtle, and not so subtle, hints that the recent storms are all down to climate change...
  Not to mention Sir John Beddington, recently retired government chief scientific adviser (!), on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this week, who stated they were due to increased CO2 in the atmosphere! And of course David Cameron today.

Historic windstorms

• Grote Mandrenke, 1362 – A southwesterly Atlantic gale swept across England, the Netherlands, northern Germany and southern Denmark, killing over 25,000 and changing the Dutch-German-Danish coastline.
• Burchardi Flood, 1634 – Also known as second Grote Mandrenke", hit Nordfriesland, drowned about 8,000–15,000 people and destroyed the island of Strand.
• Great Storm of 1703 – Severe gales affect south coasst of England.
• Night of the Big Wind, 1839 – The mmost severe windstorm to hit Ireland in recent centuries, with hurricane force winds, killed between 250 and 300 people and rendered hundreds of thousands of homes uninhabitable.
• Royal Charter Storm, October 25–26, 1859 –  The Royal Charter Storm was considered to be the most severe storm to hit the British Isles in the 19th century, with a total death toll estimated at over 800. It takes its name from the Royal Charter ship, which was driven by the storm onto the east coast of Anglesey, Wales with the loss of over 450 lives.
• The Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879  Severe gales (estimated to be Force 10–11) swept the east coast of Scotland, infamously resulting in the collapse of the Tay Rail Bridge and the loss of 75 people who were on board the ill-fated train. ^[36]
• Eyemouth Disaster, 1881 – A severe storm struck the sooutheast coast of Scotland. 189 fishermen were killed, most of whom were from the small village of Eyemouth.
• 1928 Thames flood, January 6–7,, 1928 – Snow melt combined with heavy rainfall and a sttorm surge in the North Sea led to flooding in central London and the loss of 14 lives.

Severe storms since 1950

• North Sea flood of 1953 – Considered to be the worrst natural disaster of the 20th century both in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, claiming over 2,500 lives.
• North Sea flood of 1962 – The Storm reached the German coast of the North Sea with wind speeds up to 200 km/h. The accompanying storm surge combined with the high tide pushed water up the Weser and Elbe, breaching dikes and caused extensive flooding, especially in Hamburg. 315 people were killed, around 60,000 were left homeless.
• Gale of January 1976 January 2–5, 1976 – Widespread wind damage was rs reported across Europe from Ireland to Central Europe. Coastal flooding occurred in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany with the highest storm surge of the 20th century recorded on the German North Sea coast.
• Great Storm of 1987 – This storm affected southeastern England and noorthern France. In England maximum mean wind speeds of 70 knots (an average over 10 minutes) were recorded. The highest gust of 117 knots (217 km/h) was recorded at Pointe du Raz in Brittany. In all, 19 people were killed in England and 4 in France. 15 million trees were uprooted in England.
• 1990 storm series – Between 25 January and 1 March 1990, eight severe storms crossed Europe including the Burns' Day storm (Daria), Vivian & Wiebke. The total costs resulting from these storms was estimated at almost £13 billion.