The Great Storm of 1703

Date: November 27, 1703 • Location: Petersfield, United Kingdom

The great storm of 1703, one of the most severe storms to strike southern Great Britain, destroyed the first Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth.

The Great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck south Wales and central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships were blown hundreds of miles off-course, and over 1,000 seamen died on the Goodwin Sands alone. News bulletins of casualties and damage were sold all over England and Wales – a novelty at that time. The Church of England declared that the storm was God's vengeance for the sins of the nation.