"Ten years ago this month, the Met Office began naming storms with Abigail, which (who?) was unremarkable, unless you lived in the Outer Hebrides, where the schools closed and the power shut down, so nobody could even go to the cinema. That's the thing about weather: it's very unevenly distributed. There's no way of getting those with the broadest shoulders to carry the heaviest weight."
"Storm Claudia, which has just passed, killed a woman in the Algarve and caused catastrophic flooding in south Wales, while everyone outside its path merely looked up, wondered whether it was named after Claudia Winkleman (it wasn't it was named by the Spanish meteorological agency), and went on with their day. There's a purpose to the anthropomorphisations, though: it raises awareness, which means people can prepare, which ultimately saves lives, or so the weather people argue."
The UK's most memorable storm occurred in 1987 and is remembered for Michael Fish's famously incorrect reassurance that it wouldn't happen. The storm devastated trees and roofs, and caused school routes to be blocked, producing a mixture of destruction and unexpected leisure for some teenagers. Ten years ago the Met Office began naming storms, starting with Abigail; naming aims to raise awareness and help people prepare, potentially saving lives. Storm Claudia recently killed a woman in the Algarve and caused catastrophic flooding in south Wales, while many outside affected areas experienced little impact. The UK shares storm names with Ireland and the Netherlands; anyone can suggest names.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]