On the 6^th January, 1839, 175 years ago, Co Monaghan and the rest of Ireland experienced a hurricane. The 1993 book ‘The Big Wind’ by Peter Carr describes in detail the devastation caused. The  Northern Standard carried reports  in its first edition which was just published just four days later.  Our recent storms have not been quite as severe as the one in 1839. Nevertheless it has focused our attention on the type of weather that  climate scientists are predicting that we will experience  in the  coming years.