9th January 1993

Scotland battens down the hatches

The Braer Storm had already made itself felt when it grounded an oil tanker, MV Braer, from which the storm took its name, off Shetland. By 9 January, the wild weather was really sweeping in, giving Scotland less than 24 hours to prepare to be hit by the full force of the most intense extratropical cyclone ever recorded over the northern Atlantic.

Storm Braer makes landfall

On 9 January, two low pressure areas combined to produce extreme effects, with winds exceeding 120 miles per hour in northern Scotland, and widespread blizzards once it made landfall the following day. Hurricane conditions extended across the north Atlantic and down as far as Spain.

The storm wasn’t entirely bad news. Although it drove MV Braer aground, the tanker was already in trouble, with non-functioning engines. It also helped to disperse the oil that leaked out of the ship’s hold.