The area of the storm was greater than the 1987 event affecting much of Northern Europe but once again it was in the southern part of Britain where the winds were the strongest. All along the south coast from West Wales and Cornwall to Kent gusts of 80 knots (92 MPH) or more battered the shoreline. The strongest of these at 93 knots (107 MPH) were recorded at both Aberporth in Wales and Gwennap Head in Cornwall but the highest mean hourly wind of 64 knots (74 MPH) was measured at the other end of the country at Sheerness in Kent, the speed of a category one hurricane.

Peter Clifton, chairman of the Cousley Wood Cricket Club, examines the damage after the Burns Day Storm
Being winter the trees were bare so the damage to them in Wadhurst was nothing like as great as in 1987 . However the force of the wind further damaged the Cousley Wood Cricket Pavilion, which had lost its roof in 1987, and it was now reduced to little more than rubble eventually being rebuilt some years later.
Nationwide 3 million trees were destroyed, the South and West suffered flooding and there was widespread damage to buildings right across the country. The cost to the insurance industry was the largest ever in the UK amounting to £3.37 billion and, probably due to the large area affected but also because the storm struck during the day, the death toll was much higher than in 1987. Sadly, in Britain 47 people lost their lives, largely caused by collapsing buildings and falling debris, making it the worst British weather related tragedy since the floods of 1953.
The storm was classified as one of the worst ten to have ever affected Britain,