#NameOurStorms: is it a good idea?

[cheeky_monkey]

51 minutes ago, Robert1981 said:

hi I agree with most things u have said on your post. I think if the met office didn't name storms like there do it would be wrong in people eyes there would be complaining so unfortunately whatever the met office does it wouldn't be right. 

why?? nobody gave a sheet about naming storms before..they dont name storms over here outside of hurricanes ..whats the point??

[Methuselah]

  @cheeky_monkey

Just now, cheeky_monkey said:

whats the point??

There isn't one? 

[Robert1981]

  @cheeky_monkey well there is nothing u can do about it and people who is liking your comment either!!

[Wade]

Personally I think it is useful, it gives people a focus on a particular weather system that could cause damage, injuries and also a few deaths. It also catches people's attention but it's not like people listen nowadays. I think people nowadays don't really know why they were given ears.

[WYorksWeather]

Here's the Met Office guide to weather warnings:

What are the National Severe Weather Warning Service Impact tables?

WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

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Make sure you know what to do when severe weather is forecast

Named storms usually have to cause at least medium impacts, which described in general terms are as follows within a warning area:

Quote

Injuries with danger to life

Disruption to day-to-day routines and activities.

Short-term strain on emergency responder organisations.

Transport routes and travel services affected.  Longer journey times expected.  Some vehicles and passengers stranded.

Disruption to some utilities and services.

Damage to buildings and property.

For rain, this means:

Quote

Flooding of homes and businesses.

Danger to life from fast flowing/deep water.

Damage to buildings/ structures.

Transport routes and travel services affected.  Longer journey times expected.  Some road closures. 

Difficult road conditions due to spray and standing water.

Interruption to utilities and services.

Some communities temporarily inaccessible due to flooded access routes.

For wind, this means:

Quote

 

Injuries and danger to life from flying debris.

Some structural damage, such as slates dislodged from roofs.

Transport routes and travel services affected.  Longer journey times expected.  Disruption to road, rail, air and/or ferry transport.

Closure of some susceptible and key routes (e.g. some vulnerable bridges).

Interruptions to power and/or other utilities and services.

Casualties and danger to life from large waves/beach material being thrown onto coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities.

 

Of course, not everywhere in each warning area will get those impacts, simply due to probability. But can anyone really say that for recent named storms, those impacts above haven't been seen fairly widely?

In terms of the naming system - it's just much easier for communication this way. Much easier to speak to someone who isn't necessarily up with the news and say 'have you heard about Storm X' than 'weather looks bad over the weekend, have you seen the forecast?'.

In short, I think it's a very good system. Of course nto everywhere was equally affected, but both storms Isha and Jocelyn saw thousands of homes and businesses left without power, in the case of Isha five dead across the UK and Ireland, widespread uprooted trees. Jus tbecause the impacts weren't felt most strongly in my area, it's still appropriate to name the storm in my view.

[SnowBear]

  @Wade People no longer listen. That's probably very true, I call it information overload. 

Before tv became very popular, most people listened to the news and weather, or read the newspaper. I can remember my grandfather listening to the news every morning and every evening, especially the weather forecast for the following day so he could plan which allotment or garden task he would do next. 

Even when the number of tv channels increased the news in the evening was a major event, when I was at school we always had the evening news on. 

Since the advent of the Internet, cable tv, and all sorts of digital distractions, many are now not aware of the current news or weather or are bombarded so much they effectively switch off from it all, desensitised. 

I do understand in naming a storm makes it eye catching, hopefully people will take note, but the danger is there in that too becoming diluted and eventually ignored especially if its used for non exceptional weather, the resulting storm/damage is less than warned too many times or it has no impact on certain locations even though parts of the system may pass over it. 

 

[Wade]

  @SnowBear Your last paragraph catches my eye the most, people ignore legitimate warnings about snow for example because you got idiots like Nathan Raos with newspaper headlines like "Snowmageddon and -10 degrees to hit UK" when in reality it is rain away from Scottish highlands and +9 degrees so it is crying wolf and tbf to the public, they would stop listening so when a decent snow event does come along, people are gonna be caught out.

[Jo Farrow]

I think the storm names do generate good conversations before the severe weather hits.   And afterwards, even years after, the names can be great identifiers for the most impactful or severe events. And that will depend on the region. Here we would remember Arwen and Babet but not Eunice. The names are included in other projects, reflections and campaigns. From power companies, I went to the annual talk from a nuclear power station and they mentioned Babet throwing in loads of seaweed onto the water cooling inflow nets and we remember the event, so quickly.

We discussed that you might get two in a row (or even three as in Feb 2022) due to the position of an active jetstream = another deep low, and the antecedent/cumulative conditions = more serious impacts.

A section of society won't ever prepare or do anything to help themselves. Before Beast from the East, there was a good run up in the forecast but they were still moaning on Facebook , caught unawares. The shrieking weather headlines that appear every month don't help but we are told constantly to find good sources, and double check and use trustworthy news sites. For everything online. They don't . 

As we see more severe weather events, more flooding, more heatwaves etc as our climate heats up , there will be more responsibility on individuals and communities to prepare and recover. Govt won't be doing it, or the aid will be too little and spread too thin. 

People should practice listening to warnings (how it works, when it does apply to you and what it means) and storm advice- it's only going to become more important  
Early Warnings for All - UN

[Mcconnor8]

Could UK heatwaves be given names this summer?

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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With global temperatures rising and heatwaves becoming more intense, could naming them help awareness?

This is interesting, what do people think of expanding the naming process to heatwaves as well?

[IanT]

An outstanding idea for those tasked with promoting the climate crisis concept.

[Nick L]

No no no no no.

The naming system for storms is an absolute shambles and completely unnecessary as it is.

Most normal summers you only get two or three hot spells that may warrant it. Are we really going to have an A-Z naming system for something that can only occur in a 3-4 month window? At least with storms they can occur year-round and are far more frequent in winter than genuine heatwaves are in summer.

Edited February 1 by Nick L

[Jo Farrow]

Office chat this morning (as Meteo France name Louis) -  'Does the Met Office have it about right in only talking about locally named lows. Is there a danger in diluting the naming of impactful lows for the UK by mentioning lows named for elsewhere?' 

(reminder our group is Ireland, UK and Netherlands. France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Lux. are all in another group)

[Jo Farrow]

IF the Netherlands had named this one, then where would we be? Northern France is closer to southern England. Ingunn was closer to northern Scotland and was insane up here (Yellow wind warnings). Practically I don't know if it works across the UK.  I do think that the whole alphabetic , start again in Sept is dumb, because no-one actually cares. People accept Ingunn after Jocelyn , or whatever. They only seem to pay attention to the one of the day, or the last one that badly affected their backyard. The Irish named ones sometimes don't affect the UK much. This week, people are talking about the ongoing rain down south, the flood risk, Louis brings more rain. Does it leave a vacuum by the Met Office, filled by the Daily Express? I'm quite happy to mention nearby storms like Ingunn and Louis as they do affect the UK. Does the language needs to be different, if it's not a Met Office named one? 

[matty40s]

 Mcconnor8

Heatwave list

Arid Astrid

Baking Bill

Conflagarating Christine

Dry Dave

Ember Ethel

F%$$#@ Freddy 

....m

 

[Summer8906]

Does this monster low have a name?

Definitely one of the more name-worthy systems of this winter but I haven't seen a reference to Storm [whatever it would have been called].

In terms of weather impact, certainly more significant than the A, D, E, F and G storms which I can't even remember now.

Edited February 22 by Summer8906

[Jo Farrow]

The French called Thursday's low Louis, which the Netherlands acknowledged when they had orange warnings. That low centre looks to have headed to the Alps but another low developed across the North Sea and we have ROLF for Denmark . Storm Rolf, part of the Northern naming group