If you had a prang landing in a 20kt cross-wind, would the insurance have a right not to pay out?
Unlikely that they would refuse to pay out.
(Now don't all go out and prang your aeroplanes in crosswinds you can not cope with and think you can get the money from me is they do refuse to pay!)
Going back to the initial question. The figure is indeed a demonstrated Xwind not a limit as such.
The strong and gusty conditions today were very much associated with worse weather to come.
To go and fly away from that weather and having to come back towards it a few hours later means you have to take a view on how certain you are that the fronts move at the forecast speed.
That and the fact that there was worse to come would be more of a factor to base my decision on than the windstrength per se.
FD