Storm Watch

Postcodes are placed with the Office for National Statistics postcode directory via postcodes.io. The recorded days come from the Met Office network of around 150 land observation stations, roughly 50 km apart: we show the nearest station and its distance, and keep a rolling archive so the last 30 days are available at any postcode. Wind at an exposed roof, a hilltop, the coast or the top of a tall block can be higher than at the station, so treat the numbers as a floor rather than a ceiling. Rainfall comes from the nearest Environment Agency rain gauge where one is within 25 km (England only; elsewhere rainfall is not assessed). The 7-day outlook is the Met Office Global Spot forecast for the postcode itself, refreshed hourly. Powered by Met Office data.

They follow the Beaufort scale as the Met Office describes it. Winds of 47–54 mph are a strong gale (Force 9), where slates and chimney pots start to lift. Winds of 55–63 mph are storm force (Force 10), where the Met Office expects "considerable structural damage". Beaufort describes mean wind, and gusts of that strength are commoner than storms, so the tool is deliberately cautious: a red result says the roof has had a load that can move sound coverings, not that it has failed. Flat roofs are less exposed to uplift at the ridge but more exposed to ponding, so for flat roofs the wind thresholds rise by 5 mph and a heavy-rain test is added.

Verdict	Pitched / estate	Flat roof
No action needed	Peak gust under 45 mph, fewer than three days over 35 mph	Peak gust under 50 mph, no day over 25 mm of rain
Worth a visual check	Any gust 45–54 mph, or three or more days over 35 mph, or three or more freeze–thaw cycles	Any gust 50–59 mph, or a day over 25 mm, or three or more freeze–thaw cycles
Inspection recommended	Any gust of 55 mph or more	Any gust of 60 mph or more, or two days over 25 mm in the same week

A night at or below 0 °C followed by a day above 2 °C. Water that has got behind cracked pointing, into a hairline crack in a slate or under a lifted lead flashing expands as it freezes and widens the gap. A run of cycles in a month is a good reason to look at chimneys, parapets and mortar bedding even when the wind has been quiet.

No. It means the last month's weather has not given you a specific new reason to look. Roofs fail from age, blocked outlets, previous poor repairs and slow leaks that have nothing to do with the latest storm. If you have not had the roof surveyed in the last few years, the result that matters is the one from a survey.

Yes, the portfolio tab takes up to 25 postcodes at a time and ranks them. For stocks of hundreds or thousands of properties, send us the list and we will run it for you and come back with a prioritised map, free of charge.

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