2014 The Winter of the Great Storms
The wettest winter since records began in 1766. The hidden rot in the fascia started here.
2014 — The wettest winter in 250 years of recorded rainfall drove water horizontally behind fascia boards across the East Midlands in a way that no previous maintenance regime had needed to account for. The timber substrate behind your fascia absorbed that water in February 2014 and in most cases did not fully dry until June. If you have soft fascia boards, black mould at the soffit joint, or persistent internal damp in a corner room that has never been satisfactorily explained, the entry point was almost certainly created during the winter of 2013 to 2014.
The Horizontal Rain That Found the Gaps
The Wettest Winter on Record and the Hidden Rot in the Fascia
Storms 2014 — 5 significant events — wettest winter on record (pre-naming era) — Succession of named lows December 2013 through February 2014; stormiest winter for UK and Ireland since at least 1990
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Work at Related Height
Wet Days
Windy Days
Met Office State of Climate
Met Office: Winter 2013/14 was officially the wettest winter in the England and Wales rainfall series since records began in 1766. The succession of Atlantic storms brought the stormiest conditions for the UK and Ireland since at least 1990.
The winter of 2013/14 was unprecedented. A succession of named and unnamed Atlantic storms struck the UK between December 2013 and February 2014, producing the wettest winter in 250 years of recorded rainfall data. For exterior properties, the primary legacy was fascia damage. High-velocity rain driven horizontally by storm-force winds penetrates gaps in UPVC fascia systems that standard vertical rain cannot reach. Water infiltrates behind the fascia board and into the timber substrate. In a wet winter, this moisture never dries. By the following spring, the timber is softening. By the following autumn, it is harbouring black mould. The hidden rot in fascia boards — the fault that presents as a slight discolouration around the soffit joint and is frequently dismissed until it becomes structural — across the East Midlands traces its origin, in most cases, to the winter of 2013/14.
The wind kept me up all night. 2014 introduced Britain to a new kind of weather moan: the insurance claim moan. Not just complaining about the rain — actually losing things to it. Fences down. Roof tiles displaced. Garden furniture launched into next door's conservatory. The great British weather complaint of 2014 was financial. People started using phrases like structural damage and loss adjuster in ordinary conversation. The storms had names. The names were unfamiliar. The damage was familiar.
The stormiest winter in 250 years drove horizontal rain behind fascia boards into timber substrates that never dried; biological bloom velocity high on storm-saturated surfaces (BBV 7/10); infrastructure stress maximum for fascia and soffit systems (90%); approximately 350 stewardship hours available — the winter was effectively a write-off for external treatment.
BIO-BLOOM VELOCITY
BBV 7/10 — High. Storm-driven horizontal rain introduces biology into previously sealed fascia and soffit systems.
INFRASTRUCTURE STRESS COEFFICIENT
Primary Stress: Fascia Rot — 90%. Wettest winter on record drives horizontal rain behind fascia boards into timber substrates that do not dry until spring.
STEWARDSHIP WINDOW
350 hours. The winter sequence eliminates the first quarter entirely. Spring recovery was slow. The year's usable window was the shortest since 2007.
MOAN-O-METER
7/10. Insurance claim moaning replaced weather moaning. The complaints had a financial weight that the usual drizzle complaints lack. Structural damage is a different register entirely.