On the night of Oct. 15-16, 1987, the Great Storm tore across southern England, BBC News and The Guardian reported. It was the worst storm to hit the country since 1703, both outlets reported.

Eighteen people in the UK and four in France were killed, BBC News reported. One was Bob Homewood, 59, who died when a chimney collapsed onto his bedroom at his family's farm in Biddenden, Kent.

The highest gust, 115mph, was recorded at Shoreham in West Sussex, and London saw gusts of 94mph, both outlets reported. A ship capsized at Dover, and a Channel ferry was driven ashore near Folkestone, BBC News reported.

The storm felled about 15 million trees, The Guardian reported. The town of Sevenoaks lost six of the trees that gave it its name, and damage was put at more than £1 billion, BBC News reported.

The storm is best remembered for a BBC forecast by weatherman Michael Fish on Oct. 15. "Don't worry, there isn't," he told viewers who had heard a hurricane was coming, BBC News reported.

Technically, Fish was right, The Guardian reported. The storm was not a hurricane, because it did not form in the tropics, BBC News reported. But it brought winds as strong as a hurricane's.

The Guardian reported that a "sting jet," a strong stream of air that drops from high in a storm, helped drive the damage. Scientists had not heard of sting jets in 1987.

Forecasters then had few satellite images and few readings from the Bay of Biscay, where the storm formed, The Guardian reported. By 2017, Met Office forecasts took in 215 billion satellite readings each day, the paper reported.

After an internal inquiry, the Met Office improved its forecasting, BBC News reported.

"A storm like this would not come out of the blue today," Met Office scientist Ken Mylne said in 2017, The Guardian reported.

What we know: The storm of Oct. 15-16, 1987, killed 18 people in the UK and four in France and felled about 15 million trees.
What we don't: When a storm of that strength will next hit southern England.