Storm Goretti has battered the UK over the past week, leaving homes damaged and communities struggling with power outages and travel chaos.
Among those directly affected are TV presenter Steve Backshall and his wife, Olympic rower Helen Glover, who claim their home in Land’s End was hit hard by ferocious winds.
The damage to their coastal home highlights the dangers homeowners faced as the storm reportedly toppled trees, damaged roofs, and cut power to tens of thousands of properties.
A night of ferocious winds
Steve Backshall claims the intensity of the storm made being inside their house feel “like being on the bridge of a ship in the Antarctic.”
They say several windows blew in, and the roof seemed on the verge of lifting as gusts battered their property.
He describes the pressure as “incredible” and says: “You could feel it in your ears – our ears were constantly popping, and it felt like the house was just going to take off.”
Life in Cornwall comes with adventure and cleanup
Helen Glover spoke about the clean-up after Storm Goretti, saying: “Part of having kids is all the paraphernalia that comes with it. We tried to put as much inside as we could, but then you realise there are sandpits at the end of the garden, and we’ve got to find out where their trampoline has landed. There’s so much we tried to protect, but it’s hard when the wind is beyond anything we could have imagined.”
The couple have only recently relocated to the Cornwall coastal property, with Helen posting on Instagram about moving their “wildlings” to her childhood home, embracing a house full of “salt, sand, and semi-dry wetsuits” as part of one big adventure.
Their experience shows both the practical challenges of family life on the coast and the advantages of storm-proofing homes.
Widespread storm damage across the UK
Storm Goretti reportedly caused severe disruption beyond the Backshalls’ home. Tens of thousands of homes across southwest England, the West Midlands, Wales, and coastal areas lost power, while coastal erosion caused by Storm Goretti in Norfolk forced evacuations from 14 homes.
In the Channel Islands, strong winds reportedly knocked down trees, fences, and telephone lines, and damaged roofs, leaving communities to clear debris and assess repairs.
The Backshalls’ experience illustrates the scale of destruction as Storm Goretti swept through the UK with gusts reported up to 105 mph.
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