Timber In Storage After Gudrun Cyclone, Byholma, Sweden

The government paid enormous insurance money to the victims. About 341,000 homes lost power in Sweden and several thousand of these were without power for many days and even weeks in some cases, as about 10,000 homes were still without power after three weeks. The death toll in Sweden was eighteen victims, making it one of the biggest environmental disasters in Swedish history, while four were killed in Denmark.
• Meteorological history
On January 6, 2005, a low pressure system developed at a frontal zone south of Newfoundland. It moved into the central North Atlantic and was named 'Erwin' by the Free University of Berlin. Erwin strengthened rapidly and its pressure at the time of naming was 970mb. Erwin moved quickly, and was already moving over Scotland and Northern Ireland on the 8th. In the UK, temperatures were noticeably higher after the passing of Erwin. On the 9th, Erwin had already moved into the Baltic Sea with a minimum central pressure of 960mb. Over much of Central and Western Europe, temperatures were very mild. The next day, weakening Erwin was over Western Russia with a pressure of 975mb. Erwin began slowing down as it moved into Central Russia. On 13 January, Erwin dissipated over Russia.