Aiden, Bella, Gavin...new storm names revealed for months ahead

AIDEN will be the first storm to blow in across the UK and Ireland this winter, according to the new list of names for this year’s strongest weather systems.

Bella, Gavin, Julia, Minnie, Oscar, Ravi, Saidhbhin and Wilson are among the storm names for 2020-21 announced by the Met Office, along with Met Eireann and Dutch national weather forecasting service the Royal

Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).

Now heading into its sixth year, the Name our Storms collaboration aims to raise awareness of the potential impact of severe weather before it arrives.

The 2020-21 list has been compiled from names suggested by the public which reflect the diversity of the three nations.

Others on the list include

Christoph, Darcy, Evert, Fleur, Heulwen, Iain, Klaas, Lilah, Naia, Phoebe, Tobias and Veronica.

The first storm to hit the UK, Ireland and/or the Netherlands will be named Aiden, while the second storm will be Bella.

As in previous years, Q, U, X, Y and Z will not be used, to comply with international stormnaming conventions.

The announcement comes after a month of extreme weather in the UK, which has included two named storms, a heatwave and the hottest August day recorded in 17 years.

Last week, the UK was battered by Storm Francis, which saw gusts of 81mph hit The Needles near the Isle of Wight, days after Storm Ellen struck.

The storms followed a spell of blistering heat, which included a high of 36.4C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens.

Will Lang, head of the national severe weather warning service at the Met Office, said: “The impacts from Storm Ciara and Dennis earlier this year are still fresh in many people’s minds and although it’s too early to anticipate what weather this autumn and winter will bring, we are prepared with a new list.”