The sustained battering by high winds, that has characterised the weather in Ireland for the past few months, has threatened many farm buildings up and down the country � but mushroom tunnels must be one of the most susceptible buildings to such buffeting.
Wind gusts of up to 150km/h have been reported this month, and the sustained nature of the winds means that anything not firmly affixed to terra firma, or properly tethered down, cannot withstand the storm force gusts.
Stalker wonders if this is a sign of things to come weather-wise. The temperatures have been lovely and mild for this time of year, but the winds are proving damaging.
The records for wind speed on planet Earth are not necessarily fully known.
During a wild April storm in 1934, a wind gust of 231 miles per hour (372 kilometers per hour) pushed across the summit of Mount Washington. This wind speed still stands as the all-time surface wind speed record.
Although some anecdotal chatter speaks of wind speeds hitting over 300mph in Chile in the 90�s - probably totally untrue. That cannot be verified - but the existing record is quite the blow. Let�s hope no wind of that magnitude hits Ireland, as there may be nothing much left standing if it did!
