Storm Bram is the fourth named storm to hit the UK this season, after Amy, Benjamin and Claudia – so why did forecasters go back to the letter B?
It comes down to how storms are named and who actually names them, BBC lead weather presenter Matt Taylor says.
The UK’s Met Office, Ireland’s Met Éireann and KNMI in the Netherlands group together to track major storms. Storms are named when they are expected to have a significant impact in at least one of the countries in the group, and are not based on any rainfall or wind speed thresholds.
The alphabetic storm name list is decided jointly by the group every year, following submissions from the public. Storm Bram is only the second storm to be named by the group this season, with the Irish weather service announcing Bram’s naming.
Benjamin was named by the French weather service, and Claudia by the Spanish service because of the impacts the low pressure systems would have in those nations first.
