It seems that our weather really is changing. The Met Office are now actually naming storms that affect the UK and Ireland in much the same way as hurricanes are named elsewhere in the world. We have always had gale force winds in November but this year they already seem to be stronger than in previous years with trees felled, torrential downpours of rain and widespread flooding. The Met Office have been very helpful and their website includes weather forecasts, videos, severe weather warnings and even infographics to use on your website or blog.
Storm Barney is the second storm to hit this week and it’s still raging. Travelling south on the motorway from Cumbria to Lancashire tonight was hazardous with high sided vehicles being blown around and a 20 mph speed limit. Thankfully now we are all safely tucked up inside a lovely warm home built of bricks and we can hear the wind whipping around outside. After it has all blown over I don’t think there will be many leaves left on our trees.
Here’s a snippet from the Met Office website which explains a bit:
Why are we naming storms?
In a pilot project with Met Eirann, from October 2015 the Met Office announced that wind storms with the potential to affect the UK and/or Ireland will be named to help raise awareness of severe weather and ensure greater safety of the public.
Storm Abigail was the first named storm on 12 November 2015, and Storm Barney became the second as it was named on 16 November 2015.
Find out more on our Name our storms pages.
Hopefully the storm will soon pass and we will carry on as normal.
Luckily I have already taken lots of pictures of the gorgeous autumn colours so when it’s dreary and grey I will be able to remind myself what our gardens and countryside looked like for a few brief weeks this autumn.
There are severe weather warnings for much of the UK for the next couple of days.
Here’s the advice from the experts about what to expect and what you can do.
Source: metoffice.gov.uk
Wishing you all a very happy, dry and warm evening! Gillian 🙂