Five years of named storms

In 2015, the UK's Met Office and the Republic of Ireland's Met Eireann started a joint initiative to name storms in order to raise public awareness of severe weather. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) joined the scheme in 2019.

A storm is given a name when it has the potential to cause "medium" or "high" impacts. As well as wind, impacts from rain and snow are also considered in deciding if a storm should be named.

The storm names are drawn from an alphabetical list, announced by the meteorological agencies each autumn at the start of the storm season. The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are never used, as with the US hurricane warning system.

Here are some of the storms you might remember.

The first named storm after the initiative was launched in September 2015, Abigail hit the UK on the 12th and 13th November that year. Heavy rain and strong winds swept across the UK but it was north west Scotland which bore the brunt, with South Uist in the Outer Hebrides reporting a gust of 84mph. More than 20,000 homes were left without power in Scotland and a number of schools were closed.

Storm Ciara battered the whole of the UK on Sunday 9th February 2020, bringing heavy rain and very strong winds. The Needles in the Isle of Wight recorded the strongest gust at 97mph, and gusts of 70-80mph were experienced widely across the UK.

Ciara soaked parts of north west England and North Wales, with two places in Cumbria, Seathwaite and Honister Pass, recording more rain during the event than the county's February average of 112mm. Honister Pass recorded 179.8 mm of rain over that weekend, and there was widespread travel disruption as well as some flooding and downed trees.

With just enough time to catch our breath after Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis whipped in from the Atlantic in mid-February 2020. In the UK, Wales and parts of the West country took the full force of the winds and heavy rain, which caused one fatality and widespread travel disruption. Large waves battered exposed coastlines, and in County Cork in Ireland an abandoned cargo ship was washed ashore.

A third storm at the end of February, Storm Jorge (named by the Spanish met agency AEMET) added to the rainfall totals, making that month the wettest February on record. These three storms alone accounted for 44% of the month's expected average UK rainfall. In total, February 2020 saw 237% of the average rainfall for February for the UK.

Christmas 2016 had not one festive storm but two, with Storm Barbara hitting on 23rd and 24th December, quickly followed by storm Conor on Christmas and Boxing Day. Scotland and the Northern Isles bore the brunt, as Storm Barbara cut power supplies and stopped trains and ferries, with winds gusting over 80mph over the Shetland Islands.

Hot on Barbara's heels, Conor rolled in with gusts nearing 90mph. Many spent Christmas in the dark as power couldn't be reconnected quickly enough.