kcockayne: there absolutely were 145kts over northern France and most of the UK. Turb particularly bad FL260 North of Paris, and winds a lot higher than forecast on touch down. Departure also delayed due to wx restrictions at departure airport.
There was a large unsettled area over northern france and southern UK with a Jetstream which did have the potential to get bumpy.
It's much better to warn pax so it doesn't come as a complete surprise and stops them crying to the Daily Mail with their 'we though we were all going to die (yet still had time to take a selfie)' stories. It's just courtesy. Winds were forecast to be very strong yesterday.