This film is part of Free

Welsh Cyclone

Striking newsreel images showing the aftermath of a freak storm in South Wales.

Non-Fiction 1911 1 mins Silent

Overview

Roof-torn houses and up-ended gravestones provide some striking images for the Pathe newsreel cameraman who captured these views of the aftermath of a freak storm in South Wales. There are precious few visual clues to give away where this film was shot – but with such crystal-clear images we hope to hear from any keen-eyed viewers able to identify the people or places shown.

Then as now, in Britain the weather was very often newsworthy. But digging through contemporary newspaper reporting, we’ve not been able to find a mention of this cyclone. It seems that in 1911, the most momentous meteorological event was the heat wave of July and August, when thermometers recorded 36.7 degrees centigrade in southern England.

Subjects