Storm force

Storms are the most eye-catching of all types of weather and often hit the headlines.

They can bring violent winds, torrential rain, thunder, lightning, devastating hailstones and, sometimes, waterspouts and tornadoes.

The consequences range from death and destruction on a horrendous scale to shipwrecks and flooding of biblical proportions.

This book, written by two well-known TV weather forecasters, is published to mark the twentieth anniversary of the October 1987 hurricane that Michael Fish famously failed to predict.

This great storm, which flattened much of south-eastern England, receives detailed coverage as do many other instances of weather at its worst.

Here are extraordinary human stories recalling the appalling havoc wrought along England's East Coast in January 1953, the millions of pounds of damage following the infamous Burns Night storm in Scotland, and flood disasters in the West Country that overwhelmed such villages as Lynmouth and Boscastle, The increasing incidence of violent storms as a result of climate change receives full attention. A sequel to the same authors' best-selling "Frozen in Time", this is a book with many dramatic photographs that also provides an exciting read and is at the same time immensely thought provoking.