I work on a North Sea oil platform and have often wondered what our numerous gull inhabitants do during severe weather.
Some birds can sit out storms at sea.
They can feed, and their feathers maintain waterproofing and warmth. Puffins and razorbills rest on land in Britain but winter in the mid-Atlantic. Some birds can ride out a storm pretty well using the wind. However, they cannot stay in the fixed vicinity of a rig at such times, so you wouldn't see them during storms. In stormy weather, flocks of gulls would sit on our wall and roof and scavenge from our dustbins, while nearby rubbish tips also had seagulls by the thousand.