SUNDAY'S gale actually broke the wind speed record set by the Great Storm in 1987.Wind speed readings at Wattisham Airfield recorded a top speed of 85mph on Sunday – 2mph faster than the level set 15 years ago.

SUNDAY'S gale actually broke the wind speed record set by the great storm in 1987.

Wind speed readings at Wattisham Airfield recorded a top speed of 85mph on Sunday – 2mph faster than the level set 15 years ago.

But Evening Star weatherman, Ken Blowers, stressed the ferocity of the great storm of '87 was much greater than that experienced over the weekend.

And despite two of the greatest recorded storms in living memory blowing over Suffolk in the same month, Ken said it was rare to see such conditions in October.

He said: "Storms and gales are far more likely in November, December or January than in October.

"It's unusual because deep depressions in the mid-Atlantic don't normally start to build until the middle of November.

"I've done some research on this and it is far more common to experience that sort of weather in the last week of November."

Ken also revealed a number of unusual conditions had contributed to the level of damage experienced over the weekend.

Because trees were in full leaf and sitting in ground saturated by continued wet weather, they were far more like to topple in the wind, Ken said.

He also said Suffolk was lucky not to have got the brunt of the storm. The top speed recorded in Britain was 96mph, but winds topped 110mph as the storm blew its way into Germany.