A once in 50-year wind speed map for Europe derived from mean sea level pressure measurements

Once in 50-year geostrophic wind speeds have been calculated for Europe using mean sea level pressure maps. The resulting wind speeds have then been converted to the equivalent 10-min mean surface wind speeds using the geostrophic drag law. Surface wind speeds are found to be in good agreement with those for the United Kingdom and Denmark calculated using observed hourly or 10-min mean wind speeds, but are less than those for France and Ireland, which have been calculated using observed peak gust wind speeds. The worst discrepancy occurs for northern France where wind speeds are 8–10 m/s less than those determined from observed peak gust wind speeds.