Scilly felt the effects of a hurricane on Thursday as winds gusted up to 100mph.
Strong winds and heavy rain were forecast for the Westcountry on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as the tail end of Hurricane Gordon headed across the Atlantic.
Some 50 people were stranded at the airport unable to fly out of St Mary’s after Skybus and helicopter flights were cancelled.
British International Helicopters reported that south/south-easterly winds gusting up to 100mph meant flights would have been battling both ways.
Winds on Scilly began blowing strongly quite suddenly around 4.00pm and had reached more than 70mph half an hour later.
“You could hardly stand up sometimes,” one local reported. “Sand was being driven into your eyes. And there was a lot of water coming on to Old Town road. At least one cyclist got soaked.”
The winds are thought to have been the strongest since October 2004 when Old Town was flooded.
“If this had happened two weeks ago in the very high tides there would have been extensive flooding in Old Town and Littleporth. The Bishop would have been flooded again,” the local said.
“The tide is dropping now (5.30pm) and as far as I know no damage has been done.”
The council were amply prepared with a lorry containing sand bags in place in Old Town before high tide.
The winds had died slightly by 6.00pm. No rain was reported.
The Scillonian did not sail on Wednesday or Thursday, but was due in on Friday. The Gry was in harbour at St Mary’s on Thursday and returned to Penzance on Friday morning when the weather had settled.
The Met Office has been warning of strong winds with large sea swells over the last week.
“It is not uncommon at this time of year for the remains of ex-tropical cyclones, such as tropical storms and hurricanes, to move into northern latitudes and affect the weather across Europe. The impacts of such events are extremely variable, “ Wayne Elliott, from the Exeter-based Met Office, told the Cornishman newspaper.
SHIPPING FORECAST THURS 6PM: Wind South or southeast gale 8 to Storm 10, and Violent Storm 11 Land’s End and St David’s Head, decreasing 5 or 6 later. Weather Occasional rain. Visibility Moderate occasionally poor in west, becoming good. Sea State Rough to high, falling moderate to rough. Outlook for the following 24 hours: Wind Southerly 5 or 6. Weather Showers. Visibility Good. Sea State Moderate to rough.