Storm Eowyn: How Met Office names UK storms and what the next will be called
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Storm Storm Eowyn is set to strike the UK with 95mph wind rain and snow - but how did it get named?. Eowyn is scheduled to hit from Friday and yellow severe weather warnings have been issued for Friday into Saturday for large parts of the country - especially those by the coast. Eowyn is set to cause major disruption after an alarming timelapse video has shown where it will hit, bringing potentially dangerous winds which could bring power outages, problems with travel and damage to homes.
It's the fifth named storm from the Met Office of the 2024/25 season, and the list of names is announced on September 1 each year, running in alphabetical order. The season started with Ashley, then Bert, followed by Conall, Darragh and now Eowyn, and we take a look at how the naming process takes place.
Naming storms has been a process that started in the US back in 1950 as it was a way to make it easier for people to "engage with weather forecasts". It was argued naming storms and other weather events allowed people to compare them, discuss and follow advice. The Met Office then followed suit and believed that it's "easier to follow the progress of a storm on TV, radio, or social media if it has a name" according to BBC.
The aim behind naming storms is to try to provide a single, authoritative label for an event that can help people communicate clearly about it. The reason storms get named is quite important - as it's to provide clear communication, which can make all the difference in a crisis. So the hope of the naming system is to contribute to keeping people and property as safe as possible in the face of extreme weather.
