Storm Aileen’s 75mph winds to batter UK

The first named storm of the year is to bring winds of up to 75mph to Britain this week, the Met Office has said.

Storm Aileen is the first storm to hit the UK since this season’s names were released last week. Low pressure was expected to bring “very strong winds” across much of England and Wales overnight and this morning, with an amber severe weather warning for gusts of 55-65mph issued for parts of Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Gusts up to 75mph could be possible in exposed locations such as the coast and hills in these areas.

Across the Atlantic, they have been deluged by Harvey, pummelled by Irma and threatened by Jose. The naming of Atlantic and Caribbean hurricanes has a long tradition, though not that long: the most powerful storm to make landfall in the 20th century was known simply as the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. For the past three years, the Met Office has started to name storms as well. The first of the season, Aileen, is about to hit the country today. It will be a breezy affair, with gusts of 80mph forecast. At its peak, Irma had wind-speeds of 185mph. Is it really necessary for what are pretty run-of-the-mill autumn storms to be named as though they have something in common with the ferocious monster that smashed into Florida? Irma will never be forgotten; but come on, who will remember Aileen?