Tonga volcano eruption felt in Hastings according to new data

The impact of the Tonga volcano eruption, which happened in the South Pacific, was felt in Hastings on Saturday.

Hastings weather kiosk, on the seafront just to the west of the pier, houses a barograph which recorded air pressure changes after the eruption.

Data from the monitoring station recorded pronounced ‘blips’ in air pressure late Saturday afternoon and again around six hours later.

Changes in air pressure like this travel at the speed of sound. Tonga is just over 10,000 miles away and, at the speed of sound, that’s around 14 hours away.

As the eruption was at 0410 GMT on Saturday the shock wave pulses should have been recorded at approximately 1800 to 1900 in the UK.

The first blip in Hastings occurred at 1700 which, allowing for the barograph running up to two hours slow at the end of a week, as the clockwork mechanism runs slightly slow, means it actually recorded the eruption, as expected, at around 1830.

This data was provided by Hastings Borough Council’s volunteer meteorologists, who record the weather in the town every single day of the year.