Britain’s first official named storm – Abigail – will hit on Thursday bringing 80mph winds and potentially hazardous waves, the Met Office has confirmed.
Storm Abigail will arrive in the evening of 12 November, bringing strong winds to the north of the UK as a deep low pressure system moves across the Atlantic.
It is a landmark for UK forecasting, representing the first time that a severe weather system has been given a name under the Met Office’s “Name Our Storms” project.
As part of the pilot project, storms throughout autumn and winter 2015/16 will be named based on a list from A-Z chosen by members of the public.
The Met Office said Storm Abigail would bring gusts of 60-70mph reaching up to 80mph in some exposed areas.
There was some risk of disruption to transport networks across the north and northwest of Scotland, while large ways could pose a threat to some coasts.
Eddy Carroll, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, said: “There remains some uncertainty regarding the exact extent and timing of strongest winds but current forecasts suggest that this storm could have some medium impacts such as disruption to transport and so a warning has been issued and the first storm has been named as Abigail.”
The Met Office announced its Name Our Storms project in September, and thousands of suggestions were emailed in including winners such as Nigel, Gertrude, Rhonda, Phil and Steve.
It is hoped that naming storms will help to raise awareness of severe weather and ensure greater safety of the public.
