Prepare for storms

Scottish Forestry recommend that forest owners and land managers:

• familiarise themselves with the available guidance and processes
• mitigate the risk of windthrow through informed forest planning and enhanced silvicultural practice
• develop and socialise forest-level windblow contingency plans for areas they own or manage
• ensure key staff and stakeholders are familiar with forest-level windblow contingency plans
• subscribe to the (free) Met Office weather warning service to ensure advance warning of potentially damaging winds
• investigate windblow cover/insure against losses because of wind blow where applicable and appropriate
• subscribe to the Scottish Forestry social channels for up-to-date information during and after major storms

Winds and winter storms are a common occurrence in Scotland. We should always expect that some trees will fall over because of high winds (this is called windthrow or windblow).

This is a very natural process in forests and helps make new habitats and space for smaller plants and younger trees to grow.

By contrast, extreme storms with windspeeds greater than 90 mph can sometimes have devastating impacts. These need to be carefully planned for, and managed.

When such a storm damages enough trees (>1 million cubic metres) it is termed a Major Windblow Event. Major windblow events can cause serious problems for forests and society such as:

• uprooting and breaking trees
• preventing emergency services access
• disrupting electricity, water, phone, gas services and public transport

The frequency, scale and location of major windblow events is unpredictable.

On average, the Windblow Contingency Plan is activated once per year. 

While major windblow events are rare (around one per decade), it must be recognised that the likelihood is increasing due to climate change.