Terrible blow where driest winds circling it (8)
I believe the answer is:
disaster
'terrible blow' is the definition.
'disaster' can be an answer for 'blow' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'terrible' bit.
'driest winds circling it' is the wordplay.
'winds' indicates an anagram (the letters wind around).
'circling' indicates putting letters inside (circling can mean going around or containing).
'it' becomes 'sa' (old-fashioned abbreviation for sex appeal).
'driest' is an anagram of 'dister'.
'dister' enclosing 'sa' is 'DISASTER'.
'where' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for disaster that I've seen before include "terrible trouble" , "Heavy blow" , "Catastrophic occurrence" , "not a success!" , "Extreme event resulting in great loss and misfortune" .)