Forget Joaquin: The next storms to wreak havoc over the UK will be called Nigel and Steve, says the Met Office
While recent hurricanes raging over the Pacific have had rather an exotic sense about them – Joaquin, Ida and Claudette – the next storms to hit the UK are likely to sound rather more, er, domestic, after the Met Office unveiled its new list of names.
Yep, sometime in the next 12 months, expect Steve, Nigel and Gertrude to wreak havoc over the UK. Katie, Barney, Vernon and Frank will lash the country with wind and rain. And don't even talk to us about Phil…
Actually, it turns out people are passionate about giving silly names to weather systems: the Met Office said the names were chosen by its social media followers through its Facebook and Twitter feeds, and that it had received "thousands" of entries".
But to stay in line with the US National Hurricane Centre's naming conventions, it added that it avoids names beginning with Q, U, X, Y and Z. So Quentin, Ursula, Xavier, Yvonne and Zane are going to have a while to wait…