Major storms, hurricanes, cyclones and weather events tend to be given their own name, with the latest – Storm Ciarán – hitting the UK with heavy rain and ‘very strong’ winds.
The storm has been issued a rare ‘danger to life’ red weather warning via the Met Office for the Channel Islands, with residents of Jersey and Guernsey warned to ‘avoid outside activity’.
England’s south coast is also forecast to be badly hit, with gusts of up to 90mph expected on Thursday, November 2.
For the latest news and updates on Storm Ciarán, follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog here
But why do storms have names, and how did the latest storm get to be called Ciarán? And what will the next storm in 2023 be called?
Here’s all you need to know.
The Met Office has named the next storm of 2023, Storm Debi.
Storm Debi could make landfall in the UK as soon as 24 hours after Ciarán finally dissipates.
Bonfire Night could be in jeopardy with Storm Debi due to strike in southern England on Saturday.
British Weather Services said: ‘If Storm Ciarán doesn’t get you, Storm Debi might be next on Saturday.’
The UK and Ireland storm names for the 2023/24 storm season are as follows:
Storm Agnes was the first official storm of the season – bringing winds of up to 80mph to parts of the country and forcing yellow weather warnings being put in place.
Agnes was named for Agnes Mary Clerke, a noted 19th century astronomer and writer from Ireland.
And Ciarán comes hot on the heels of Storm Babet, which killed several people and left more than 1,000 homes flooded across the UK.
Babet was named for a woman who visited the Dutch KNMI’s head office and entered her name into the lot.
She reportedly submitted her name due to the fact that she was born during a storm.
The Met Office publishes a list of storm names ahead of each winter season. The list runs from early September to late August the following year.
The Met Office collaborates with Met Éireann and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to name storms based on suggestions sent in by the public.
Send in your own suggestions by emailing nameourstorms@metoffice.gov.uk.
Once the storm meets the criteria for being named, either Met Éireann or the Met Office will publicly name the storm, adhering to the formulated list.
The latest storm is named after Ciarán Fearon, a civil servant from Northern Ireland.
The Department for Infrastructure worker’s job involves using Met Office forecasts and sharing key information about river levels, coastal flooding and severe weather impacts.
According to Civil Service World, Mr Fearon said: ‘With the effects of climate change, we are more aware than ever of how weather can affect us all in every aspect of our daily lives.
‘In my role with the Department for Infrastructure, I work closely with local communities in Northern Ireland and multi-agency partners to help keep everyone as warned and informed as possible.’
Storms are named simply to help make people more aware of severe incoming weather.
The idea is that when you hear a storm named you’ll know to expect heavy rain, dangerous winds or snowfall.
The Met Office and the Irish equivalent Met Éireann decided to begin naming storms after a survey revealed people became more aware of extreme weather warnings once the storm was given a name.
In response to the results, a list of names was drawn up from suggestions from the public which has given us the likes of Storm Abigail and Storm Doris in recent years.
Many will remember February 2022’s destructive Storm Eunice, which quickly followed the damage caused by Storm Dudley.
However, naming storms is not a new phenomenon as the US National Hurricane Centre has named tropical storms since 1953. This makes it easier to refer to Atlantic tropical storms when tracking them and ensures the public will always know exactly what storm is on its way.
Since the regions of the mid-Atlantic are so often plagued with tropical storms that evolve into hurricanes, it makes sense to distinguish between them – with the US and the Caribbean suffering severe damages from the likes of Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria in recent years.
A name is given to a storm when it is expected to reach an amber or a red warning level.
The warnings are issued by the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service when extreme weather conditions like rain, wind, snow, ice, fog and high temperatures are forecasted.
Red, amber, yellow or green weather warnings are based on guidance from the National Severe Weather Warning Service, and are decided by a combination of both the impact the weather may have and the likelihood of those impacts happening.
Looking at the above list, you’ll note no UK and Ireland storms begin with the letters, Q, U, X, Y or Z.
All three of the aforementioned organisations behind storm naming address this when announcing new names, stating the decision is to stay ‘in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention’.
It also ‘maintains consistency for official storm naming in the North Atlantic’.
According to AccuWeather’s senior meteorologist, Dan Pydynowski, other parts of the world do use some of these letters when naming their tropical storms or cyclones.
He explained: ‘The East Pacific uses X, Y and Z, while the Atlantic does not… the East Pacific averages more named storms per year. Thus, more names are needed in an average year and there is a better chance [of reaching] the end of the list.’
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