Why A Stormy Autumn Reveals Need For Strong Roofing

The summer may have ranged from very hot and dry to wet and gloomy, but so far the autumn has had some distinctly stormy elements.

It is normal for the autumn and winter to bring more storms, starting with the Hurricane season across the Atlantic but continuing as warmer and colder currents mix in a volatile fashion over the winter. The Met Office has now established an alphabetical ‘named storms’ system to help catalogue the various big weather events heading our way.

So far this autumn we have had Agnes, Babet, Ciaran and Debi from the list, with the likes of Elin, Fergus and Gerrit yet to come.

Babet was particularly damaging for the flooding it caused, while Ciaran was notorious for producing winds of over 100 mph, with the Channel Islands hit particularly hard as roofs were torn off, trees felled and extensive damage done by flying projectiles.

Similarly severe damage was caused across the continent in countries like France, Spain and the Low Countries.

All this goes to show why anyone using sheet roofing needs to have strong and sturdy structures in place, especially at a time when climate scientists have warned that severe storms will be an increasingly frequent occurrence as the climate changes.

The Met Office has stated that research to date has shown that wind speeds have not been getting faster since comparable data began being collected in 1969, but they have got wetter.

However, projection models have indicated that in the coming decades, partly due to the natural North Atlantic Oscillation patterns, storms will tend to hit Britain more often as they will be less likely to pass to the north or the south of the country.

Winter storms are a big challenge now and climate change models suggest they will be a larger one in the future, so there can be little doubt that for every building project, some very firm roofing will be needed to withstand everything the elements throw at it.