September 21st 2024.
Last week, despite the strong winds and sea spray, a group of brave children could be seen strolling along the Crosby Beach promenade in Liverpool during Storm Lilian. This storm, which was the tail end of Hurricane Ernesto, brought winds of over 70mph to the northern parts of England and Wales. However, despite the wild weather, the children seemed unfazed and continued on their journey.
But this is just a glimpse of what's to come, as the Met Office has recently released their list of names for the upcoming storm season. Bert, Kayleigh, and Naoise are among the names that could potentially wreak havoc in the UK in the coming months. This list, covering the 2024/2025 season starting in September, was released to coincide with the beginning of autumn.
Storm naming has been a practice in the US for much longer, but Britain only started doing it in 2015. This helps with communication about severe weather, allowing people to track its impact more easily and warn others. Earlier this summer, the UK was hit by Storm Lilian, which was itself a result of Hurricane Ernesto. It brought strong winds and heavy rain, causing chaos in some parts of the country.
So, who will be the namesakes of these upcoming storms, and will any of them share your name? Here is the full list of 21 names: Ashley, Bert, Conall, Darragh, Eowyn, Floris, Gerben, Hugo, Izzy, James, Kayleigh, Lewis, Mavis, Naoise, Otje, Poppy, Rafi, Sayuri, Tilly, Vivienne, and Wren. Last year, there were a total of twelve named storms, starting from A and ending with L. This meant that Storm Lilian was the last one on the list. Unless we have a particularly stormy year, it's unlikely that we'll get to see Storm Wren.
As we bid farewell to the summer holidays, the UK has been basking in some beautiful sunny weather, with temperatures reaching up to 28°C in the south east. And while we enjoy the end of the summer, the UK Met Office, along with the Irish Met Eireann and Dutch weather service KNMI, have been working on picking the names for the upcoming storms.
Among the names on the list are James, Lewis, and Mavis, all of which are in honor of figures from the Met Office's 170-year history. James is named after Group Captain James Stagg, who was the chief meteorologist responsible for advising General Dwight Eisenhower on the weather forecast for the D-Day landings. Lewis is included because of Lewis Fry Richardson, who developed a theory to use math and physics to make weather forecasts using computers. Mavis, on the other hand, is named after Mavis Hinds, who worked on the earliest Met Office computers.
But you may be wondering, why isn't Storm Boris on the list? Well, it's simple really. Storm Boris, currently causing chaos in Europe, was not named by the UK Met Office. Instead, it was named by Italy's Servizio Meteorologico, who use a different naming list. Italy is part of a group of countries in the central Mediterranean, who decide together on how to name storms that are likely to impact their area. The UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands have their own naming system, which is why Storm Boris wasn't included in this list.
So, while we won't be seeing a Storm Bert anytime soon, there's always a chance for a different name to make an appearance in the future. For now, let's hope for a calm storm season ahead. This article was originally published on August 29, 2024.
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