Islands are lashed by winds close to 60mph
GUSTS of close to 60mph hit the island yesterday, with waves smashing against the east coast and severe gale force winds bringing water over the sea defences.
The east coast was the worst affected, with the breakwater and Castle Emplacement bearing the brunt of the south-easterly gales.
Guernsey Met Office senior meteorological officer Martin Crozier said that, although an unofficial figure, the top gust was recorded at Chouet at 3.36pm at 49 knots – about 58mph.
However, the official Guernsey Met Office figure for the highest gust was at 3.28pm at 42 knots – about 50mph.
He said these conditions were part of a secondary depression, so were not part of the same conditions which affected the UK.
Condor had already cancelled its Liberation ferries for yesterday, but because conditions were set to improve today a service between Guernsey, Jersey and Poole has been scheduled to run.
The Commodore Clipper made it from Portsmouth only 45 minutes late and it was decided that she could continue as planned to Jersey. To maintain connections from France to the Channel Islands and inter-island travel, it was necessary to enter a Guernsey rotation on the Rapide service on Sunday.
