Most people ran for cover when Storm Emma hit the UK last month, bringing howling gales and blankets of snow. But the bad weather was a boon for Ørsted, the Danish renewable energy giant that runs nine of Britain’s offshore windfarms. On Thursday the company, known as Dong Energy until November, revealed a surge in earnings for the three months to March after higher wind speeds boosted profits from its farms by 51pc to 3.2bn Danish kroner (£370m).