UK weather: Why have there been so many storms this year and could more be on the way?
When Storm Jocelyn hit the UK this week – hot on the heels of Storm Isha – it was the tenth named storm to sweep across the country this winter.
It was only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter J has been reached in the alphabet.
Since storm naming was introduced in 2015, the furthest through the list the group has got is to Storm Katie in 2016.
This season is now one name away from equalling that record – with more than seven months to go until the list resets in September.
So why have there been so many named storms – and could there be more to come?
What’s in a name?
Storms are named when they are likely to cause medium or high impacts in Ireland, the UK or the Netherlands.
The names are compiled by the UK’s Met Office, Ireland’s forecaster Met Eireann, and the Netherlands’ KNMI.
The system was created to raise awareness of severe weather and help people to prepare themselves.
The storm season runs from the beginning of September to August the following year.
What is behind this year’s storms?
This year’s stormy weather is largely down to the jet stream, according to the Met Office.
Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said: “While we have had some drier and calmer interludes, the stormy nature of the UK’s autumn and winter so far is chiefly dictated by the position and strength of the jet stream, which is a column of air high up in the atmosphere.
“The jet stream greatly influences the weather we experience in the UK and during recent months this has largely been directed towards the UK and Ireland, helping to deepen low pressure systems.
“These systems have been directed towards the UK and have eventually become named storms due to the strong winds and heavy rain they bring.”
More recently, a pool of very cold air has sunk southwards across North America, the Met Office said, causing a temperature contrast that has intensified the jet stream and influenced Storms Isha and Jocelyn.
Workers remove a tree that fell on an electricity substation during Storm Isha. Pic: PA
Is the weather beocming more stormy?
There is evidence that human-influenced climate change has contributed to temperature extremes, heavy rainfall events, and rising sea levels around the world, according to the Met Office.
But they note it is hard to detect trends in the number and severity of wind events in the UK.
Our climate overall is getting wetter, the Met Office’s Dr Amy Doherty said – but there aren’t “compelling trends” that show increased storminess over the past decades.
“One thing that is clear from observations is that there’s big variability year-to-year in the number and intensity of storms that impact the UK,” she said.
Most climate projections indicate winter wind storms will increase slightly in number and intensity over the UK as a result of climate change, the Met Office said.
“We can be confident that the coastal impacts of wind storms, from storm surges and high waves, will worsen as the sea level rises,” the forecaster added.
But the Met Office also notes climate scientists “use long-running datasets that compare decades and centuries to assess the impact of human emissions on long-term weather” – so using the storm name list to assess the impact of change isn’t necessarily “statistically robust” as “the time period is far too short”.
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Could there be more storms on the way?
In short, possibly yes.
Although it’s too early to predict, the Met Office say “there remains a chance of further impactful weather as we move through meteorological winter and into spring”.
Looking ahead, Sky News meteorologist Steff Gaulter said after a very wet last few months, “many of us are now thoroughly sick of the rain”.
But she notes there “might be a change on the cards”.
“With El Nino in place in the Pacific, the end of our winters often have rather a cold theme,” she said.
“So there is the possibility that we may see some more cold, crisp conditions in the next couple of months.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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