Cyclone Gudrun
Gudrun was a powerful storm which hit Denmark and Sweden on 8 January 2005, and Latvia and Estonia on 9 January 2005. The name Erwin was chosen by the Free University of Berlin, while the storm was named Gudrun by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and was the name used in Sweden. Sustained wind speeds of with wind gusts of were measured in Hanstholm, Denmark – the same strength as a Category 1 hurricane.
The storm caused significant financial damage in Sweden, where the forest industry suffered greatly from damaged trees, as more than of trees were blown down in southern Sweden. This resulted in Sweden at the time having the world's largest surplus of lumber.
About 415,000 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 7 victims, making it one of the biggest environmental disasters in Swedish history, while four were killed in Denmark and one in Estonia.
Meteorological history
Image:Fallet träd i Onslunda, januari 2005.jpg|thumb|Fallen tree by Onslunda Church in SwedenOn 6 January 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. 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. Over much of Central and Western Europe, temperatures were very mild. The next day, weakening Erwin was over Western Russia with a pressure of. Erwin began slowing down as it moved into Central Russia. On 13 January, Erwin dissipated over Russia.