In Ciarán, Pointe du Raz recorded 207 km/h while the highest UK mainland gust was 78 mph at Langdon Bay, Kent. The Channel Islands and Brittany took the brunt.
Back to the trend of the day: Storm Austen closes Jersey schools as Channel Islands get highest wind warning
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day
Storm in Jersey, Channel Islands: 8 Worst Storms (2026)
Storm Austen's red warning closed island schools today, yet its forecast 70–80 mph gusts sit well below the 104 mph that St Clement took in Storm Ciarán in 2023.
- No. 1: Storm Austen (23 October 2026)
- 8 places
01Final list
The leading AIs built their own top-ten lists independently. Above is one combined result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, the AIs that included it and, where the AIs gave one, a source.
Order: from most to least AI agreement.
A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.
- 1
Storm Austen (23 October 2026)
Red warning closed schools and Guernsey Airport until noon. Gusts were forecast at 70–80 mph; early readings of 73 mph at Jersey Airport come from one source, well below Ciarán.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Grok, DeepSeek, Wenxin. Did not include: Gemini.In their lists: Claude: see list · ChatGPT: see list · Meta: see list · Grok: see list · DeepSeek: see list · Wenxin: 4
What each AI noted 6
- Claude
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - ChatGPT
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Grok
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - DeepSeek
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Wenxinplace 4
70–80 mph forecast this morning and a gust record that still stands in island lore
6 AIs put it here - 2
Storm Eunice (February 2022)
The highest island gusts on paper: 186 km/h (116 mph) in Guernsey and 176 km/h in Jersey. Only one source gives them, and no island warning or closures were reported.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 4 · ChatGPT: see list · Meta: see list · Grok: see list · Gemini: 2 · DeepSeek: see list
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 4
In Eunice, Guernsey's 186 km/h (about 116 mph) beat Jersey's 176 km/h.
Source ↗ - ChatGPT
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Grok
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Geminiplace 2
Holds England's all-time lowland wind gust record at 122 mph, where 100-metre chalk cliffs violently funnel southwesterly Channel gales.
Source ↗ - DeepSeek
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list
6 AIs put it here - 3
Storm Ciarán (November 2023)
The islands' benchmark. St Clement had 104 mph and a tornado, and both islands had red warnings. Jersey Airport logged 93 mph (81 kt); another answer says 102 mph.
Included it: Claude, Meta, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 3 · Meta: see list · Grok: see list · Gemini: 1 · DeepSeek: see list
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 3
Jersey's 104 mph gust in Ciarán came with a tornado, and the island has seen repeated red warnings (2018, 2021, 2023, 2026).
Source ↗ - Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Grok
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Geminiplace 1
A granite wedge jutting into the Atlantic gate of the Channel that bore the brunt of Storm Ciarán with an astonishing 207 km/h (129 mph) blast.
Source ↗ - DeepSeek
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list
5 AIs put it here - 4
Great Storm of October 1987
Jersey Airport's 98 mph (85 kt) was its record for 36 years. Cap de la Hague is quoted at 150 or 180 km/h, depending on the source.
Included it: Claude, Meta, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: see list · Meta: see list · Grok: see list · Gemini: see list · DeepSeek: 4
What each AI noted 5
- Claude
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Grok
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Gemini
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - DeepSeekplace 4
Jersey's 1987 peak of 98 mph is the Channel benchmark, but the airport is not a headland.
Source ↗
5 AIs put it here - 5
Storm Goretti (January 2026)
Red warnings on both islands and a stay-home order in Jersey from 8pm to midnight. Cherbourg set a new station record of 161 km/h, beating 1987.
Included it: Claude, Meta, Grok, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Gemini, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: see list · Meta: see list · Grok: see list · DeepSeek: see list
4 AIs put it here - 6
Storm of 15 December 1979
Set Guernsey Airport's record of 83 kt (96 mph). Another Guernsey table gives 77 kt as the top gust, so the record itself is disputed.
Included it: Claude, Meta, Grok, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Gemini, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 10 · Meta: see list · Grok: 9 · DeepSeek: 5
What each AI noted 4
- Claudeplace 10
Its 1979 gust of 118 mph stood as England's record for 43 years. It lies at the Channel–Atlantic boundary.
Source ↗ - Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list - Grokplace 9
110 mph at the signal station in 1987 and 84–96 mph recent airport peaks – the island’s western coasts amplify the Channel flow
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 5
A 96 mph airport record, yet only about 10 gale days a year and a 12.1-knot mean.
Source ↗
4 AIs put it here - 7
Storm of 25 January 1990
77 kt (about 89 mph) at Guernsey Airport, listed by Guernsey Met as a top historic gust. Only one source gives it, and other tables put the 1979 record higher.
Included it: Meta. Did not include: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek, Wenxin.In their lists: Meta: see list
What each AI noted 1
- Meta
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list
1 AIs put it hereno source given - 8
Storm Darragh (December 2024)
Shows the gap between airport and coast: 76 mph at St Catherine's against 57 mph at Jersey Airport in early readings.
Included it: Claude. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: see list
What each AI noted 1
- Claude
Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
see list
1 AIs put it here
02Worth knowing
What the AIs noticed while building the list.
Jersey's coastal stations read far above its airport: 104 mph at St Clement against 81 kt (93 mph) at the airport in Ciarán, and 76 mph against 57 mph in Darragh.
The islands issue their own red warnings. Claude found only a yellow Met Office warning for Austen, while Jersey and Guernsey had red, with school closures to match.
Jersey's Goretti advice was a four-hour stay-home window (8pm–midnight), more precise than 'avoid travel'.
On the Normandy side, Goretti beat Ciarán: Cherbourg-Maupertus set a new record of 161 km/h, above its 155 km/h from 1987.
03How we counted
In plain words, no formulas.
1The question
Top 10 Storms That Hit the Channel Islands Hardest, Ranked by Gust, Warning Level and Disruption
2Why this topic
No single table puts a storm's island gust, its warning colour and what it actually shut down side by side, so this is the only place a reader can see how Storm Austen compares with the islands' worst storms.
3Where it applies
Jersey and Guernsey, with nearby Normandy stations as a cross-check
4What we looked at
- Peak gust recorded on the islands, compared across stations
- Highest official warning issued by the islands' own weather services and the UK Met Office
- Disruption from local reporting: schools, ferries, flights and power cuts
- Wikipedia storm tables (Ciarán, Eunice), compiled from national met services — Peak gust by island and station for each storm, in km/h and mph
- Government of Jersey strong-winds page (Jersey Met) — Jersey Airport gust records: 81 kt in Ciarán, 85 kt in 1987
- Guernsey Press: Guernsey's top 10 storms — Guernsey's own storm ranking and the Guernsey Airport gust record
- Government of Jersey and States of Guernsey storm notices — Red warnings, stay-at-home windows, school and airport closures
- Météo-France and actu.fr (Normandy cross-check) — Gusts at Cherbourg-Maupertus, Cap de la Hague, Barneville-Carteret and Gatteville during the same storms
5Who ranked
The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek, Wenxin.
6How the places were set
The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.
04Each AI's own list
🇺🇸 Claude10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by Claude alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1The Needles, Isle of Wight (England gust record, 2022)
Holds England's record at 122 mph, but in the same storm the next-highest English gust was 90 mph at Portland.
Source ↗ - 2Pointe du Raz, Brittany
207 km/h (129 mph) in Storm Ciarán, stronger than any gust measured on the English or Channel Island side that night.
Source ↗ - 3Jersey (St Clement, Trinity, St Catherine)
Jersey's 104 mph gust in Ciarán came with a tornado, and the island has seen repeated red warnings (2018, 2021, 2023, 2026).
Source ↗ - 4Guernsey (Albecq / Castel / airport)
In Eunice, Guernsey's 186 km/h (about 116 mph) beat Jersey's 176 km/h.
Source ↗ - 5Cap de la Hague, Normandy
Its 152 km/h gust in October 2025 is close to the 150 km/h recorded in October 1987, so it is exposed in both eras, but it usually reads below Ouessant in Atlantic storms.
Source ↗ - 6Cap Gris-Nez, Pas-de-Calais
It topped France in Storm Eunice at 176 km/h (109 mph), on the narrow eastern Channel.
Source ↗ - 7Isle of Portland, Dorset
It had the highest mainland gust in Eunice (90 mph), 32 mph below the Needles in the same storm.
Source ↗ - 8Ouessant (Ushant), Brittany
Ouessant read 130 km/h in a December 2007 storm, higher than Cap de la Hague's 104 km/h that morning.
Source ↗ - 9St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight
Only a few miles from the Needles and described as not much less exposed, yet it read 84 mph against the Needles' 122 mph.
Source ↗ - 10Gwennap Head, Cornwall (former England record, 1979)
Its 1979 gust of 118 mph stood as England's record for 43 years. It lies at the Channel–Atlantic boundary.
Source ↗
What Claude noticed
The Needles' 122 mph was more than 30 mph above any other gust in Eunice. The Spectator asks whether one very exposed site should set England's record at all.
The only English county in the UK's top 10 for average wind is the Isle of Wight, at 10.7 knots. Shetland leads at 14.6 knots.
In Storm Ciarán, Pointe du Raz recorded 207 km/h while the highest gust on the UK mainland was 78 mph at Langdon Bay, Kent. The Channel Islands and Brittany took the brunt.
England's gust record is a coastal one, but the UK record is on a mountain: 173 mph at Cairngorm Summit in 1986.
🇺🇸 ChatGPT10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by ChatGPT alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1The Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, England
England's accepted low-level gust record is 122 mph, recorded during Storm Eunice on 18 February 2022.
Source ↗ - 2Cap de la Hague, Normandy, France
A prominent northwestern Normandy headland faces Atlantic-origin winds before they reach the eastern Channel.
Source ↗ - 3Ouessant-Stiff, Brittany, France
A published monthly gust series reaches 190.4 km/h in March, illustrating why the most extreme record need not identify the windiest everyday location.
Source ↗ - 4Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands
The available historical monthly wind table shows winter means above summer values, but the station's airport exposure is not equivalent to a sea cliff.
Source ↗ - 5Jersey Airport, Channel Islands
An airport provides a useful routinely monitored island reference, but an airport reading is not interchangeable with a cliff-top gust.
Source ↗ - 6Cap de Carteret, Normandy, France
Its projecting coastline makes it a relevant Channel-facing exposure candidate, although the evidence assembled here is not enough to assign it a defensible numerical gust record.
- 7Cherbourg-Maupertus Airport, Normandy, France
An airport record is valuable for comparison because it represents a monitored low-level site rather than a selectively chosen cliff-top extreme.
- 8Dungeness, Kent, England
A low-lying, exposed shingle foreland offers a different kind of Channel wind exposure from a high cliff or headland.
Source ↗ - 9Plymouth, Devon, England
Plymouth's maritime climate makes it a useful southern-coast comparator, but a sheltered urban station should not be mistaken for a fully exposed headland.
Source ↗ - 10St Helier, Jersey
The island's main town is a useful lived-exposure comparison, but buildings and local shelter can make its wind different from the airport or open coast.
Source ↗
What ChatGPT noticed
The accepted England low-level gust record is 122 mph at the Needles, but a separate record summary gives 125.4 mph for the same storm and location. This is a warning against mixing accepted standard-instrument records with differently reported peaks.
Ouessant-Stiff's monthly table reports a 190.4 km/h maximum gust in March and a 44.7 km/h monthly maximum mean-wind value in February. Those figures are not the same measure: the first is a gust extreme, while the second describes a mean-wind statistic.
The MetLink historical comparison says the extreme southwest of England averages about 30 gale days a year, while the Hebrides average about 35. These are broad regional historical estimates, not verified annual counts for each Channel station.
The Guernsey Airport table gives a January mean wind of 16.41 knots and a July mean of 11.90 knots for 1961–1990, illustrating the seasonal difference and the need to state the averaging period.
🇺🇸 Meta10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by Meta alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1The Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, England
122 mph (196 km/h) on 18 Feb 2022 — England's low-level gust record set during Storm Eunice
Source ↗ - 2Ouessant (Ushant) - Stiff, Brittany, France
216 km/h (134 mph) in Great Storm Oct 1987 and 212 km/h in Storm Zeus 6 Mar 2017 — Atlantic front line
Source ↗ - 3Cap de la Hague, Normandy, France
Cotentin tip where forecasts warn 130-150 km/h on most exposed headlands and 140 km/h on Cotentin during Storm Austen
Source ↗ - 4Isle of Portland, Dorset, England
Annual mean 14.30 knots 1991-2020 — almost double southern England average, windiest everyday English Channel station
Source ↗ - 5Pointe du Raz, Brittany, France
Gusts can exceed 110 mph over Raz de Sein and 207 km/h hit here during Storm Ciaran 2 Nov 2023
Source ↗ - 6Berry Head, Devon, England
19 mph all-year average, 22 mph in January — highest average among Devon Channel stations, with 78 mph gust recorded
Source ↗ - 7Jersey Airport, Channel Islands
81 Kt (93 mph) in Storm Ciaran 2-3 Nov 2023 — highest since 85 Kt (98 mph) in Great Storm 16 Oct 1987
Source ↗ - 8Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands
30-year mean 12.1 knots with 73 knots equalling November record and 77 knots top historic gust
Source ↗ - 9Cap Gris-Nez, Pas-de-Calais, France
Narrowest point of Channel where Storm Austen forecast 120-130 km/h gusts
Source ↗ - 10St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, England
11.57 knots annual mean and 98.2 km/h max gust 15 Dec 2011 — everyday windy but less freakish than Needles battery
Source ↗
What Meta noticed
England's low-level gust record jumped only 4 mph in 43 years — from 118 mph at Gwennap Head in 1979 to 122 mph at Needles in 2022
Portland's 14.3 knots annual mean is nearly double southern England regional mean of 8.06 knots — headland exposure doubles everyday wind
Ouessant averages 27 km/h year-round, but its peak gust 216 km/h is eight times its average — showing Atlantic freak vs everyday split
Jersey Airport's windiest day averages 19 mph hourly, yet Channel Islands can see 70-80 mph gusts in one morning during Storm Austen — 4x daily mean
🇺🇸 Grok10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by Grok alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1The Needles, Isle of Wight
122 mph provisional England record in Storm Eunice – higher than any other low-level English Channel site
Source ↗ - 2Cap de la Hague, Normandy
180 km/h in the 1987 storm and still one of the most consistently galed headlands on the French Channel coast
Source ↗ - 3Ouessant (Ushant), Brittany
190 km/h absolute record and over 150 gale-force days a year on average – everyday wind, not just freaks
Source ↗ - 4Gatteville-le-Phare / Barfleur, Cotentin
213 km/h in Goretti – the highest figure reported on the Channel coast, though measured high on a lighthouse
Source ↗ - 5Cherbourg-Maupertus Airport, Normandy
161 km/h new station record in Goretti, beating the 1987 mark at a relatively sheltered airport site
Source ↗ - 6Jersey Airport / Channel Islands
104 mph in Ciarán and 95 mph in Goretti – the islands repeatedly take the southern flank of major Channel storms
Source ↗ - 7Pointe du Raz, Brittany
207 km/h reported in Ciarán at the semaphore – classic exposed Breton headland
Source ↗ - 8Barneville-Carteret, Cotentin
182 km/h in Goretti and 191 km/h in 1987 – consistently among the highest standard-station readings on the French side
Source ↗ - 9Guernsey Airport / St Peter Port
110 mph at the signal station in 1987 and 84–96 mph recent airport peaks – the island’s western coasts amplify the Channel flow
Source ↗ - 10Isle of Portland / Portland Bill, Dorset
90 mph+ in major storms and a classic English Channel headland that regularly features in Met Office top-gust lists
Source ↗
What Grok noticed
Elevated semaphore and lighthouse sites (Gatteville 213 km/h, some Breton points) routinely post higher numbers than standard 10 m stations a few kilometres inland – exposure height matters as much as geography.
Ouessant’s 150+ days a year with gale-force gusts show that the western Channel islands experience high winds as a near-daily winter feature, not just rare extremes.
The Needles 122 mph figure remains the highest confirmed low-level English record, yet nearby St Catherine’s Point on the same island recorded only 84 mph in the same storm – local topography creates sharp differences.
🇺🇸 Gemini10 places · 2 notes
The same question, answered by Gemini alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Pointe du Raz, Brittany
A granite wedge jutting into the Atlantic gate of the Channel that bore the brunt of Storm Ciarán with an astonishing 207 km/h (129 mph) blast.
Source ↗ - 2The Needles, Isle of Wight
Holds England's all-time lowland wind gust record at 122 mph, where 100-metre chalk cliffs violently funnel southwesterly Channel gales.
Source ↗ - 3Ouessant (Ushant), Brittany
The legendary maritime storm anvil at the Channel's mouth, enduring 130 gale days each year and hammered by 185 km/h gusts in 2023.
Source ↗ - 4Cap de la Hague, Normandy
Squeezed between the Cotentin cliffs and the raging Alderney Race, recording 171 km/h in the 1987 Great Storm and over 90 gale days annually.
- 5Portland Bill, Dorset
A limestone promontory extending five miles out into the mid-Channel, where open waters routinely trigger 90 mph storm gusts.
- 6Jersey (St Clement & Airport), Channel Islands
While the island airport averages 15 gale days, its south and west coasts clocked a staggering 104 mph during Storm Ciarán's violent sting jet.
- 7Cap Gris-Nez, Pas-de-Calais
Overlooking the narrowest throat of the Dover Strait, its 45-metre chalk bluffs compress and accelerate Channel winds up to 175 km/h.
- 8Guernsey (Chouet & Airport), Channel Islands
Unsheltered on the western rim of the Channel Islands, its rocky shores regularly catch 80+ mph gusts and over 25 days with gales every winter.
- 9Pointe du Roc (Granville), Normandy
A sheer cliff citadel standing over Mont Saint-Michel Bay that recorded 171 km/h when Storm Ciarán slammed the Normandy coastline.
- 10Langdon Bay (Dover), Kent
Perched on the White Cliffs over the Dover shipping lanes, it took a 93 mph gust in the 1987 Great Storm and acts as the UK's frontline eastern Channel sentinel.
What Gemini noticed
The Needles holds England's absolute gust record (122 mph) mainly because the anemometer sits atop an 80m cliff where ascending air creates an artificial compression boost, whereas places like Ouessant experience far higher sustained annual winds.
Storm Ciarán in November 2023 set all-time departmental wind records across both sides of the Channel, including 207 km/h at Pointe du Raz and 104 mph in Jersey, driven by an exceptional sting jet low.
🇨🇳 DeepSeek10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by DeepSeek alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Cap de la Hague, Normandy
A 180 km/h record plus a 6.8 m/s annual mean makes La Hague a year-round wind machine, not a one-storm wonder.
Source ↗ - 2Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight
England's official gust record is 122 mph — recorded at a station the Met Office treats as exceptionally exposed.
Source ↗ - 3Ouessant, Brittany
Twenty days a year above 100 km/h — ten times Brest's rate — and a 200 km/h 1987 gust.
Source ↗ - 4Jersey Airport, Channel Islands
Jersey's 1987 peak of 98 mph is the Channel benchmark, but the airport is not a headland.
Source ↗ - 5Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands
A 96 mph airport record, yet only about 10 gale days a year and a 12.1-knot mean.
Source ↗ - 6Isle of Portland, Dorset
A 77 mph station record and a 30 km/h annual mean — more routine than freak.
Source ↗ - 7Gwennap Head, Cornwall
England's pre-Needles low-level record: 118 mph in 1979.
Source ↗ - 8Barfleur / Gatteville-le-Phare, Normandy
213 km/h in 2026 — but measured at the top of Gatteville lighthouse, not a standard 10 m station.
Source ↗ - 9Barneville-Carteret, Normandy
191 km/h in 1987 and 182 km/h in 2026 — a two-storm benchmark.
Source ↗ - 10Alderney, Channel Islands
104 mph at Fort Albert — a headland reading, not the airport.
Source ↗
What DeepSeek noticed
The Needles' 122 mph is England's official low-level record, but the Met Office itself treats the site as exceptionally exposed — which is why record tables and 'windiest place' claims do not always agree.
Guernsey Airport's 96 mph record sits beside a 12.1-knot mean and only 10.1 gale days a year: the record is rare, the mean is what people actually feel.
Ouessant averages 7.8 m/s and records 20 days a year above 100 km/h, against two at Brest — a sharper everyday-wind contrast than most record tables show.
🇨🇳 Wenxin10 places · 1 notes
The same question, answered by Wenxin alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Cap de la Hague, Normandy, France (2026)
198 km/h in 1987 — the Channel's single highest gust and a wind-turbine plateau of perpetual gales
- 2Ouessant (Ushant), Brittany, France (2026)
Atlantic's doormat — 160+ km/h recorded and gales on two days out of three
- 3The Needles, Isle of Wight, UK (2026)
103 mph gust and 15 kn average — England's windiest cliff-top by the numbers
Source ↗ - 4La Corbière, Jersey, Channel Islands (2026)
70–80 mph forecast this morning and a gust record that still stands in island lore
- 5St Albans Head / Portland Bill, Dorset, UK (2026)
Exposed headland with 80+ mph gusts and the wind that broke Roman records
Source ↗ - 6Guernsey Airport (GCI), Channel Islands (2026)
Runway on an island rooftop — 60+ knot gusts every winter on an open airstrip
- 7Pointe du Raz, Finistère, Brittany, France (2026)
133 mph in 1987 — a Finistère cliff where the Atlantic doesn't brake
- 8Berry Head, Devon, UK (2026)
A lighthouse on a 60 m cliff that pulls 95 mph gusts from the English Channel
Source ↗ - 9Jersey Airport (JER), Channel Islands (2026)
Ranked #1 in UK for mean wind — the airport that never gets a calm day
- 10Prawle Point / Start Point, Devon, UK (2026)
South Devon's final cliff — persistent gales but no single monster gust
Source ↗
What Wenxin noticed
Many online 'windiest places in England' lists put Portsmouth or Hurst Castle on top, but official Met Office data consistently ranks exposed south-coast headlands like The Needles, Berry Head and Portland Bill far higher for both mean wind and gusts.