Michael Fish looks back on the night of the great storm and shares his thoughts about the attention it still receives.

Before the storm
Met Office forecasters were warning of severe weather four or five days ahead of the storm. The weather models nearer the time suggested that the storm would pass along the English Channel, only giving stormy conditions to the south coast of England. By the time most people went to bed, exceptionally strong winds hadn't been mentioned in national television or radio weather forecasts.

Where did the storm come from?
The area of low pressure originated in the Bay of Biscay. On the 15 October the depression was heading towards the UK, deepening to a pressure of 964mb by 1800GMT. At 2235GMT winds of Force 10 (55-63mph) were forecast and by midnight the central pressure had fallen to 953mb as the depression sat at the western end of the Channel. The depression then quickly tracked across southern England reaching the Humber estuary at 0530GMT.

The effects
South east England saw the greatest damage, with the wind gusting to 70 knots for three to four hours. The highest measured wind speed was 117 knots near Granville in Normandy. The strongest gust over the UK was 106 knots at 0424 GMT at Gorleston, Norfolk. In central London, 83 knot gusts were recorded at the London Weather Centre at 0250 GMT.

The winds were accompanied by huge changes in temperature as the storm passed. At South Farnborough in Hampshire, the temperature rose from 8.5C to 17.6C in 20 minutes - a temperature change only likely to happen in the UK once every 200 years! The sharp increases were followed by sharp decreases in temperature after the storm passed.

The change in pressure was also hugely noticeable as the storm passed. Many places in southern England saw the pressure rise more than 20mb in three hours - again something that is only likely to happen once every 200 years.

Was it a hurricane?
A hurricane is the term used for a storm that develops in the tropics, so in this sense, the Great Storm was not a hurricane. Hurricane Force (Force 12) winds are winds of 73+mph sustained for ten minutes or more, and don't include the strength of wind gusts. By this definition, Hurricane Force winds occurred locally, such as at Lee on Solent and Gorleston, but were not widespread.

How did Michael fit in to this?
"Earlier on today apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard that there was a hurricane on the way. Well don't worry if you're watching, there isn't."

This is frequently quoted from Michael's evening weather broadcast on the 15 October, the night the storm hit. However Michael wasn't talking about the UK at this point and was referring to a story in the News.

"My remarks referred to Florida and were a link to a news story about devastation in the Caribbean that had just been broadcast. The phone call was a member of staff reassuring his mother just before she set off there on holiday!"

"I did broadcast saying 'batten down the hatches there's some really stormy weather on the way' - if the full clip is used all would be revealed."

Your questions to Michael regarding the storm

We asked you to send in your questions to Michael before he retired, and not surprisingly many of them were about the 1987 Storm.

Do you get tired of seeing repeats of your broadcast in 1987 when editors carefully cut before you say 'it will get rather windy'?
- Richard Davis-Foster, High Wycombe.

"Yes! I wish I had a penny for each time that clip had been broadcast, I'd be a millionaire!"

Just who did ring in to say they'd heard a hurricane was on the way in '87?
- James Westcott, Witney.

"Nobody called in. Someone in the studio suggested that - their mum was going on holiday."

My son would like to know if the storm of 1987 was the back end of a hurricane.
- Josephine Fisher, Billericay.

"No it wasn't - the storm formed near the Bay of Biscay."

Did you ever consider resigning after that famous broadcast?
- Paul Chillingworth, Manchester.

"No I didn't!"

You obviously had no idea that day in October 1987 that your words would be forever immortalised in the annals of TV broadcasting. How does this feel now?
- Janet Franklin, Chislehurst.

"Well it's a bit annoying really as it is always misreported..."

Is the south east likely to be in the firing line of another storm like that of October 1987 in the future?
- Tony Last, Gillingham.

"Yes - there have been storms since, such as the Burns Day storm in 1990 and are likely to be more in the future."

Since the 1987 storm, it would appear that severe weather has been on the increase globally. Has it, or is it just an increased media awareness?
- Simon Brickhill, Henley-on-Thames.

"Media awareness is something to do with it. However, with climate change taking place this is going to result in more severe weather around the world in years to come. In Haiti recently, the severe flooding was as a result of deforestation by man."