Cyclone Gudrun
Cyclone Gudrun in the North Sea | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 7 January 2005 |
| Dissipated | 12 January 2005 |
| Extratropical cyclone | |
| Lowest pressure | 960 hPa (mbar); 28.35 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 12 (7 in Sweden, 4 in Denmark,1 in Estonia) |
| Damage | £1.1 billion (2005 GBP) |
Gudrun was a powerful storm which hit Denmark and Sweden on 8 January 2005, and Latvia and Estonia on 9 January 2005. The name Erwin was chosen by the Free University of Berlin, while the storm was named Gudrun by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and was the name used in Sweden. Sustained wind speeds of 126 km/h (78 mph) with wind gusts of 165 km/h (103 mph) were measured in Hanstholm, Denmark – the same strength as a Category 1 hurricane.
The storm caused significant financial damage in Sweden, where the forest industry suffered greatly from damaged trees, as more than 75 million cubic metres (2.6×109 cu ft) of trees were blown down in southern Sweden. This resulted in Sweden at the time having the world's largest surplus of lumber.
About 415,000 homes lost power in Sweden and several thousand of these were without power for many days and even weeks in some cases, as about 10,000 homes were still without power after three weeks. The death toll in Sweden was 7 victims, making it one of the biggest environmental disasters in Swedish history, while four were killed in Denmark and one in Estonia.