Journey disruption, flooding, energy cuts, and harmful situations close to coastal areas are all seemingly when the climate hits, the Met Workplace stated.
Two yellow wind warnings masking northern Wales and northern England, together with Cumbria and Northumberland, had been already in place on Thursday (August 22) morning.
Met Workplace spokesman Stephen Dixon stated: “Storm Lillian is an space of low strain which goes to be drifting in the direction of the UK from the west and bringing some sturdy winds and a few heavy rain within the early hours of Friday and thru Friday morning as properly.”
Lilian is the most recent storm the climate company has named this 12 months and the primary time meteorologists have gotten as deep because the twelfth letter within the alphabet.
Final 12 months’s storm season, from September 2022 to August 2023, made it so far as solely the letter B.
Coastguard personnel look on in April 2024 as waves crash over the harbour wall and onto the road in St Ives, Cornwall, amid Storm Kathleen
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Against this, this 12 months’s season has seen storms named in each month up till January: Agnes in September 2023; Babet in October; Ciaran and Debi in November; Elin, Fergus, and Gerrit in December; and Henk, Isha, and Jocelyn in January 2024. Storm Kathleen was in April.
Nonetheless, that there has already been a Storm Nelson this 12 months has confused some — with the ordering showing to have gone backwards.
Right here is the way it all works.
How are storms given their names within the UK?
Within the UK, storms are named by way of a collaboration between the UK Met Workplace, Met Éireann (the Irish meteorological service), and KNMI (the Dutch meteorological service). This naming course of is designed to make the general public extra conscious of extreme climate occasions and to make sure that folks take crucial precautions when such storms are forecasted.
Every service has chosen seven names on the alphabetical checklist (excluding the letters q, u, x, y and z).
Annually, the UK Met Workplace, in collaboration with Met Éireann and KNMI, releases an inventory of names for the upcoming storm season. The names are chosen alphabetically, alternating between female and male names.
A storm is called when it’s anticipated to have a big affect, notably whether it is forecasted to carry sturdy winds, heavy rain, or snow that would trigger substantial harm or pose a threat to life.
The choice to call a storm is predicated on the potential for an Amber or Purple warning (excessive or very excessive affect) to be issued.
Who decides on the identify of a storm within the UK?
Anybody can recommend a storm identify and the Met Workplace receives hundreds of concepts annually. It then meets Met Éireann and KNMI to finalise the alternatives.
Names are chosen primarily based on their recognition and ease of pronunciation throughout the UK, Eire, and the Netherlands.
The Met Workplace receives nominations by way of social media.
If a storm originates outdoors the UK, Eire, and the Netherlands and has already been named by one other meteorological service (such because the Spanish service), that identify is retained.
Lilian is the twelfth storm named by the Met Workplace this 12 months. The following shall be Minnie — though it has solely a short while to reach, if in any respect.
- Babet
- Ciaran
- Debi
- Elin
- Fergus
- Gerrit
- Henk
- Isha
- Jocelyn
- Kathleen
- Lilian
- Minnie
- Nicholas
- Olga
- Piet
- Regina
- Stuart
- Tamiko
- Vincent
- Walid
Consultants say storms are named to boost communication and public security. A particular identify makes it simpler for folks to recollect and focus on a storm, lowering confusion, particularly when a number of storms are energetic concurrently.
This readability helps within the constant dissemination of warnings and ensures that media, authorities businesses, and the general public are all referring to the identical occasion.
Moreover, naming storms will increase public consciousness and urgency, prompting folks to take crucial precautions. A named storm tends to obtain extra media protection, serving to to unfold necessary security info. General, the follow simplifies communication, improves preparedness, and aids within the efficient coordination of emergency responses.
The Met Workplace stated the method helps to “present constant, authoritative messaging in occasions of extreme climate”.
Met Workplace head of situational consciousness Will Lang, who leads responses in occasions of extreme climate, stated in September 2022: “We all know from seven years of doing this that naming storms works.
“Current impactful storms demonstrated our ongoing want to speak extreme climate in a transparent approach to assist the general public defend themselves. Naming storms is only one approach that we all know helps to boost consciousness of extreme climate and gives readability for the general public after they want it most.”
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