The St. Jude storm, also known as Cyclone Christian,[2] and other names, was a severe hurricane-force European windstorm that hit Northwestern Europe on 27 and 28 October 2013 causing at least 17 deaths.

[8] The Danish Meteorological Institute referred to it as the October storm 2013 (Oktoberstormen 2013),[11] but it was later named "Allan" per request from the Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, Martin Lidegaard.

[14] The St. Jude storm formed from a wave front on 26 October in the northwest Atlantic off the Eastern seaboard of North America.

[15] The developing low moved under the jet stream passing by the remnants of ex-tropical storm Lorenzo situated in the mid Atlantic.

[15][16] The tropical air from this storm provided an input of energy,[17] strengthening the jetstream, and helping to intensify the deepening of the low in an area closer to Europe than usual.

This, together with a strong jet stream, led to a rapid deepening of the St. Jude low before it hit western Europe as a strengthening storm.

[18][19] The storm system was swept across the Atlantic at a rapid pace moving eastwards with an average speed of 77 km/h (48 mph), and crossed over 2,000 km (1,200 mi) in less than 26 hours.

[40] The Danish Meteorological Institute warned of the possibility of a storm and high coastal waters for Monday afternoon, with storm-strength gusts expected.

[41] The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute warned authorities in the country that the storm could continue to the west coast of Sweden.

[44] Some of the more notable incidents in the United Kingdom included: In Essex, the helter-skelter on Clacton Pier was blown down and the orangutan enclosure at Colchester Zoo suffered roof damage.

[45][46] In London, a crane collapsed on top of the Cabinet Office, closing Whitehall between Horse Guards Avenue and Parliament Square.

[51] In Hounslow, London, two people were killed when a gas explosion destroyed three houses and damaged two after the storm blew a tree down.

[52] In Ipswich, Suffolk, the high winds ripped exterior cladding off buildings overlooking the marina, with brick walls and hoardings also being brought down leading to road closures.

[55] A high sided truck loaded with chocolate was blown over on the European route E34 between Antwerp and Germany shedding its contents on the road and causing delays.

Roofs were blown off buildings and debris caused much of the city's tram services to come to a halt, while buses experienced heavy delays and the subway system was reportedly overcrowded.

Amsterdam Centraal railway station was closed due to storm damage, and there was virtually no rail traffic in and around the city for most of the day, leaving thousands of travellers stranded.

A photograph circulating on Twitter showed a ferris wheel in central Amsterdam that appeared to be damaged but it turned out to be a planned demolition by the owners.

[61] Uploaded recordings of the storm in the Netherlands included a cyclist in Amsterdam narrowly escaping a falling tree at Haarlemmerplein,[62] and video of a house roof being damaged by the high winds in Dokkum, Friesland.

[63] The Port of Rotterdam was closed for all shipping on 28 October, while the DFDS-owned King Seaways ferry with 1,080 people on board coming from Newcastle was forced to abandon docking at IJmuiden and return to sea to wait the storm out.

[73] In Göttingen, also in Lower Saxony, part of the façade of a building of the city's university was brought down by storm gusts onto empty parked cars.

[76] In Copenhagen areas of the main shopping street Strøget, were closed by police due to the danger of falling scaffolding in the wind, also in the city a 17-storey crane was toppled in Bryggen.

[79] The track and signal operator Banedanmark said 500 trees had fallen on the lines in the country and expected its damages to total between five and seven million kroner from the storm.

[23] In Hounslow, London, two people were killed when a gas explosion destroyed three houses and damaged two after the storm blew a tree down.

[133] The track of the St. Jude storm across Europe took it over densely populated areas of southern England and the Netherlands, impacting on its route the major cities of London, the Dutch Randstad, Hamburg and Copenhagen, which could indicate a high level of insured exposure.

[134] Immediately following the passage of the storm in the United Kingdom, a surge of calls to insurance groups led to companies drafting in additional staff to handle claims and assess damage.

The executive director said the damage was comparable to windstorm Kyrill, which struck in 2007 and according to data from the Association of British Insurers would have incurred costs of £370 million in 2013.

[145] In Estonia the tabloid Õhtuleht was critical of the government owned Eesti Energia following the storm damage to the countries' electricity infrastructure.

[146] The director of Elektrilevi, the power distribution subsidiary of Eesti Energia announced that 80 percent of Estonia would be covered by a weatherproof grid by 2025.