Predictions a new storm will rears its head in a matter of hours have been confirmed, but Met Office forecasters say its stength won’t constitute a name.
Speculation a third named storm will blast the UK with a third dose of severe wind and rain this weekend has been rife after Storm Ciaran battered much of Britain.
Storms Babet and Ciaran have funnelled gale-force wind and torrential rain over the British Isles over the last month, causing lasting flooding and dismantling buildings in their path.
Forecasters monitoring recent weather trends have predicted that once Ciaran has finished its all-out assault on the country this weekend, another system will take its place.
They have noticed another establishing pattern “hot on the heels” of the storm, and some have even tentatively named it Debi, the next storm name on the Met Office’s 2023/2024 list.
However, the agency itself isn’t convinced that the upcoming bluster will amount to anything comparable to what the country has seen over the last few weeks.
Storm Ciaran is expected to leave the UK this weekend, as weather warnings conclude on the south coast in the afternoon on Saturday, November 4.
The Met Office has told people to expect 0.7 to 1.8 inches of rainfall across half a dozen areas in London and southeast England, with maximums of 1.5 inches in some places.
Flooding is possible “in a few places” as much of the rainfall across the regions arrives hard and fast, guided by gusty winds.
The UK won’t get much respite before the next weather bomb, with maps showing a wave of heavy rain will descend by the following week, but the conditions won’t prove “anywhere near as severe” as a named storm.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Oli Claydon, a press officer for the Met Office, said there is “no expectation” the storm will be named.
He said: “Low pressure will influence the weather across the UK this weekend though the low pressure is nowhere near as deep as Storm Ciaran and there is no expectation that it will be named.”
Mr Claydon added that the weather is “not forecast to be anywhere near as severe as the last couple of days”, with strong winds and rain expected to ease through the day.
He continued: “The strong winds will continue to ease through today. Areas of rain will slowly become less persistent across northern and northeastern areas too.
“Elsewhere there will be some sunshine and a scattering of showers which could be heavy at times, predominantly in the West.
“Overnight patchy rain will continue in the far northeast with some showers in the west. Clear spells developing in places ahead of a band of rain spreading northeastwards from the southwest.”
