Upcoming storm names revealed by MET office

NAMES with a distinctly Caledonian flavour have been chosen by the Met Office to help the public identify major storms which could hit the UK this winter.

Image: Met Office

Traditional Scots names such as Angus, Ewan and Malcolm will be used for the first time following suggestions made on social media.

The Met Office, along with its Irish equivalent, ran a pilot scheme last winter to name storms with the potential to cause substantial impact.

The project was largely welcomed and thousands of names were suggested. As the scheme got underway with Storm Abigail in November the names were quickly adopted by the public and media.

Flooding caused by Storm Gertrude in January 2016 near Larbert. Picture: Scott Louden/JP Resell

Over the course of the 2015/16 season 11 storms were named, and although the pilot scheme only ran for one extended winter storm season, the Met Office said it had demonstrated that storm-naming can make a big difference to the communication of severe weather.

Derek Ryall, head of public weather services at the Met Office, said: “By naming storms more people were made aware of the approaching threat of severe weather and were able to act on this information.

“A YouGov survey based on the first seven storms showed that 55 per cent of those surveyed took steps to prepare for stormy weather after hearing that a storm had been named. People were therefore better informed.”

This year’s list will begin again at ‘A’ and alternate male/female, starting with a male name.