13 MORE STORMS TO HIT BRITAIN
Bad weather may last into new year
A RECORD 13 named storms could batter Britain this autumn and winter, forecasters have warned.
After Aileen and Brian, experts are predicting Caroline, Dylan, Eleanor, Fionn, Georgina, Hector, Iona, James, Karen, Larry and Maeve will follow.
Last winter, British storms got only as far as Ewan under the naming system.
International meteorology group AccuWeather warned the spell of bad weather could bring 120mph winds.
Forecaster Tyler Roys said: “We expect an active storm period until January, with further storms until April.
“Many storm centres are forecast to pass just north of the UK, with a battering of rain each time they pass through. Many places will see 50-80mph gusts, with some coasts seeing gusts up to 100mph, and we may see well over 100mph on higher ground.” Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said the turbulence was coming from the Atlantic Ocean.
He explained: “The Atlantic is a breeding ground for storms.
“Autumn storms are created by the difference in temperature between cold air near the poles and warm air in the tropics being at its greatest at this time of year.”
Yesterday the clean-up began after Storm Brian blasted Southern and Western areas with gale force winds on Saturday. A couple were recovering in hospital after the storm brought a tree crashing down on their car in Street, Hants.
Fire crews cut the pair free on Saturday afternoon and the man and woman were kept in hospital for observation. Calmer conditions will follow in the coming days, with temperatures expected to hit a balmy 21C by the end of the week, 10C higher than average for late October. The Met Office’s Helen Roberts said: “It is looking quieter than last week and on Monday many places could see sunshine and brightness. Through the week there will be some outbreaks of rain and some of these could be heavy by Thursday. “We are seeing increasingly mild or even warm air start to come up from the south towards the end of the week. “This is tropical maritime in origin and, depending on cloud breaks, we could see temperatures in the low 20Cs in some places.”