Posted By John Webster Andy, Where are you? In the Western and Northern Isles we know a thing or two about severe weather. We have regular winter weather when it gets a bit breezy, with wind speeds gusting at around 100mph. Every few years we have a bit of a blow when close on 120mph may be recorded. We would normally expect gales on one day in three over the winter... Damage and is usually slight and injury uncommon, as this weather is normal. We use heavy duty doors with heavy duty closers, and get used to the fact that we might have to spend an extra moment or two opening a door against a closer which is set to damp sudden movement. Premises managers know which doors could present a hazard under certain conditions and simply close them for emergency use only where alternatives are available. A more unusual (nationally, but common here), traditional feature is the use of split doors. A 3 foot doorway fitted with a pair of 18inch doors, only one of which is normally open, and a second , single door just 2 feet inside. A non starter for modern fire regs and not great for my 20 stone frame, but I thought I would throw it in for interest. John

Posted By Stuart Nagle Hi, Andy. Having had similar problems in other areas of the world, consideration was given to the weather patterns and wind direction. Often wind is associated with on-coming chang in weather, and so wind direction e.g it may predominantly blow from a certain direction when weather is coming in, rather than the other way !! In this case you can pay attention to which side the door is hinged, so that wind, if it is predominantly from a certain direction, can be used as an aid to opening the door, rather than as a force against it, and with simple locking mechanisms to prevent the door flying back. In addition, the use of wind breaks outside doors is common in such areas, with timber posts and timber planks staggered (inside and ouside posts) to form a wind-break in very exposed conditions or a simple 'tunnel' of posts and wiggly tin to shelter the door from the stronger elements. Hope this helps... Stuart Nagle