Exeter's Met Office release storm names

This is the 4th year they've run the scheme

The first storm this winter will be called Ali. That's a man - because last year a female storm came first. 

Since 2015 the Exeter-based Met Office and Met Éireann (the meteorological service in the Irish Republic) have jointly run the ‘Name our Storms’ scheme, aimed at raising awareness of severe weather before it hits.

The public are responsible for the names - after suggesting them. As in previous years, Q, U, X, Y and Z will not be used, to comply with the international storm naming conventions.

Derrick Ryall, Head of Public Weather Services at the Met Office, said: “Naming storms has been proved to raise awareness of severe weather in the UK, providing a consistent message to the public and crucially prompting people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property.”

The Met Office says a storm will be named on the basis of 'medium' or 'high' potential impacts from wind but also include the potential impacts of rain and snow, i.e. storms will be named for weather systems which we expect an Amber or Red warning will eventually be issued.

Last year, 10 storms were named.