Storming through the alphabet

Has the naming of storms in the UK been useful in raising awareness of their potential  severity? The trend for personalising storms that involve a yellow, amber or red warning and are likely to have a medium or high impact means that we’ve got to ‘I’ (for Imogen) already – and it’s still only early February.  The Yorkshire Post examines the significance of the name game for weather warnings, asking BBC meteorologist Paul Hudson if it shows up more storms than normal, or simply heightens public awareness (and concern). The article also interviews Prof Piers Forster, Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds, on whether storms have become more frequent and what their cause is.

“It’s definitely associated with global warming but primarily it’s down to chance,” says Prof Forster. “We certainly expect these wet and warm winters to become typical in 10 to 15 years’ time, bringing these storms with them, but that’s not going to be the case every year. These severe weather systems could continue throughout February but then they could just as easily not. It’s impossible to predict with any great degree of certainty.”
Read the full story here.