The exceptional windspeed and direction would have caused diversions at any airport today,it's important to remember that SOU rwy heading is 20 which is not the predominant wind direction for the area, something like BOU 26 would be more appropriate,however it wasn't possible to build a runway with that heading at SOU.
Having said all of this SOU biggest weather problem is fog due to the River Itchin close by and being in a low lying river valley. The RVR minama of 800mtrs has to be one of the highest figures for any regional airport.I suggest that any future operations by airlines like Easy might be hindered by this high minima,given BOU cat 3 operations was required by Ryanair to set up a base!