2023–24 European windstorm season

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2023–24 European windstorm season
First storm formed25 September 2023
Strongest storm1Storm Babet
Strongest wind gust185 km/h (115 mph): Cairn Gorm Summit, Scotland: 19 October 2023
Total storms4
Total fatalities10 + 1 missing
1Strongest storm is determined by lowest pressure and maximum recorded non-mountainous wind gust is also included for reference.

The 2023–24 European windstorm season is the ninth season of the European windstorm naming in Europe. The new season's storm names were announced on 1 September 2023. Storms that occur up until 31 August 2024 will be included in this season. This was the fifth season where the Netherlands participated, alongside the United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann in the western group. The Portuguese, Spanish, French and Belgian meteorological agencies collaborated for the seventh time, joined by Luxembourg's agency (South-western group). This is the third season where Greece, Israel and Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean group), and Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta (Central Mediterranean group) named storms which affected their areas.

Background and naming[edit]

Definitions and naming conventions[edit]

Main article: Weather system naming in Europe

There is no universal definition of what constitutes a windstorm in Europe, nor is there a universally accepted system of naming storms. For example, in the Western Group, consisting of the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands, a storm is named if one of the meteorological agencies in those countries issues an orange warning (amber in the UK), which generally requires a likelihood of widespread sustained wind speeds greater than 65 km/h, or widespread wind gust speeds over 110 km/h. (Required wind speeds vary slightly by agency and by season.) Both the likelihood of impact and the potential severity of the system are considered when naming a storm.[1][2][3] The Southwest Group of Spain, Portugal, and France share a similar storm-naming scheme, though their names differ from those used by the Western Group.[4] In Greece, however, naming criteria were established for storms when the storm's forecasted winds are above 50 km/h over land, with the wind expected to have a significant impact to infrastructures.[5] In Denmark, a windstorm must have an hourly average windspeed of at least 90 km/h (25 m/s).[6]

The Meteorology Department of the Free University of Berlin (FUB) names all high and low pressure systems that affect Europe, though they do not assign names to any actual storms.[7] A windstorm that is associated with one of these pressure systems will at times be recognized by the name assigned to the associated pressure system by the FUB. Named windstorms that have been recognized by a European meteorological agency are described in this article.

Naming conventions used in Europe are generally based on conditions that are forecast, not conditions that have actually occurred, as public awareness and preparedness are often cited as the main purpose of the naming schemes–for example, a reference.[2] Therefore, an assignment of a storm name does not mean that a storm will actually develop.

Western Group (United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands)[edit]

In 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann announced a project to name storms as part of the "Name our Storms" project for windstorms and asked the public for suggestions. The meteorological offices produced a full list of names for 2015–2016 through 2017–2018, common to both the United Kingdom and Ireland, with the Netherlands taking part from 2019 onwards. Names in the United Kingdom will be based on the National Severe Weather Warning Service.

The following names were chosen for the 2023–24 season in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. [8] For a windstorm to be named, the United Kingdom's Met Office, Ireland's Met Eireann, and the Netherlands KNMI have to issue an amber weather warning, preferably for wind, but a storm can also be named for amber warnings of rain and snow (e.g. Storm Arwen in 2021).[9]

  • Agnes
  • Babet
  • Ciarán (unused)
  • Debi (unused)
  • Elin (unused)
  • Fergus  (unused)
  • Gerrit (unused)
  • Henk (unused)
  • Isha (unused)
  • Jocelyn (unused)
  • Kathleen (unused)
  • Lilian (unused)
  • Minnie (unused)
  • Nicholas (unused)
  • Olga (unused)
  • Piet (unused)
  • Regina (unused)
  • Stuart (unused)
  • Tamiko (unused)
  • Vincent (unused)
  • Walid (unused)

South-western Group (France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg)[edit]

This was the seventh year in which the meteorological agencies of France, Spain and Portugal named storms that affected their areas. [10]

  • Aline (active)
  • Bernard (active)
  • Celine (unused)
  • Domingos (unused)
  • Elisa (unused)
  • Frederico (unused)
  • Geraldine (unused)
  • Hipolito (unused)
  • Irene (unused)
  • Juan (unused)
  • Karlotta (unused)
  • Louis (unused)
  • Monica (unused)
  • Nelson (unused)
  • Olivia (unused)
  • Pierrick (unused)
  • Renata (unused)
  • Sancho (unused)
  • Tatiana (unused)
  • Vasco (unused)
  • Wilhelmina (unused)

Central Mediterranean Group (Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta)[edit]

The following names were chosen for the 2023–24 season in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta.[11]

  • Alexis (unused)
  • Bettina (unused)
  • Ciro (unused)
  • Dorothea (unused)
  • Emil (unused)
  • Fedra (unused)
  • Gori (unused)
  • Helga (unused)
  • Italo (unused)
  • Lilith (unused)
  • Marco (unused)
  • Nada (unused)
  • Ole (unused)
  • Palmira (unused)
  • Rocky (unused)
  • Shirlene (unused)
  • Tino (unused)
  • Ute (unused)
  • Vito (unused)
  • Zena (unused)

Eastern Mediterranean Group (Greece, Israel and Cyprus)[edit]

The Eastern Mediterranean Group works slightly differently compared to other naming lists, instead of ending a season on the 31 August of that year, they end the season on the 30 September of that year. [12] These are the names that were chosen for the 2023–24 season in Greece, Israel and Cyprus.[13]

  • Avgi (unused)
  • Ben (unused)
  • Cornelius (unused)
  • Doros (unused)
  • Eden (unused)
  • Fedra (unused)
  • Gea (unused)
  • Hillel (unused)
  • Iris (unused)
  • Kerean (unused)
  • Leonidas (unused)
  • Maria (unused)
  • Nir (unused)
  • Olympias (unused)
  • Petros (unused)
  • Qamar (unused)
  • Raphael (unused)
  • Sofia (unused)
  • Tal (unused)
  • Urania (unused)
  • Viran (unused)
  • Widad (unused)
  • Xenophon (unused)
  • Yakinthi (unused)
  • Ziv (unused)

Northern Group (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)[edit]

This naming group, like the naming from the Free University of Berlin, does not use a naming list but names storms when it has not received a name by any other meteorological service in Europe and is projected to affect Denmark, Norway or Sweden.

Season summary[edit]

EUMETNET groups naming lists by colour
  Western group
  South-western group
  Northern group
  Central & southern group
  Central Mediterranean group
  North-east group
  South-east group
  Eastern Mediterranean group

All storms named by European meteorological organisations in their respective forecasting areas, as well as Atlantic hurricanes that transitioned into European windstorms and retained the name assigned by the National Hurricane Center:

Storm Babet

Storms[edit]

Storm Agnes (Kilian)[edit]

"Storm Agnes" redirects here. For other storms of the same name, see List of storms named Agnes.
Storm Agnes
Area affectedIreland & United Kingdom.
Date of impact25 - 29 September 2023
Maximum wind gust135 km/h (84 mph): Capel Curig, United Kingdom: 27 September 2023[citation needed]
Fatalities0
DamageUnspecified

Storm Agnes was named by the UK's Met Office on 25 September 2023 and was forecasted to bring strong winds and heavy rain to much of the UK and Ireland.[14] The storm, which was also named Kilian by the Free University of Berlin and the Deutscher Wetterdienst,[15] impacted the British Isles on 27 September.

Storm Babet (Viktor)[edit]

Main article: Storm Babet
Storm Babet
Area affectedSpain, Portugal, France, Ireland, United Kingdom (particularly Angus, Scotland), Germany, Denmark and Sweden
Date of impact16-22 October 2023
Maximum wind gust185 km/h (115 mph) at Cairn Gorm Summit, Scotland on 19 October 2023
Fatalities10 + 1 missing ( 5 indirect deaths, car crashes caused by rain and wind)
Power outages55,000 (England), 27,000 (Scotland)[16]
DamageUnspecified

Storm Babet was named by the United Kingdom's Met Office on 16 October and affected large parts of western and northern Europe.[citation needed] It first affected Portugal and southwestern Spain with strong winds, heavy rains and floods on 16–17 October, subsequently moving to northern Europe.[17] The Met Office issued several yellow rain and wind warnings for large parts of the UK, along with amber rain warnings for parts of north eastern England and Scotland.[18] A rare red weather warning was issued for eastern parts of Scotland.[19]

Met Éireann issued Yellow rain warnings for most of Ireland.[citation needed] An orange rain warning for south western Ireland was also issued, and there was flooding in the south of the Island, especially the east of County Cork; Midleton was particularly badly hit.[20][21]

A rare red warning for rainfall was issued across portions of eastern Scotland by the Met Office on 19 October.[22] A wind gust of 77 mph (124 km/h) was registered at the coast in Inverbervie.[23] In the highlands, Cairn Gorm summit recorded a gust of 115 mph (185 km/h).[24] In Brechin, Scotland, residents were asked to evacuate their homes by the local council.[25]

In Denmark, southern Sweden and northern Germany, the wind caused some material damages, fallen trees and cancellations of ferries, trains and planes, but the most serious effect was a storm surge, with large amounts of seawater being pushed by the wind into the westernmost Baltic Sea and Danish straits (unlike floods in Great Britain, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula that primarily were caused by heavy rain).[26][27][28] In parts of Denmark (southeastern Jutland, southern Funen, southern Zealand and smaller islands in the area) and Germany (eastern Schleswig-Holstein), it caused the highest floods in more than a century, with some places in Denmark having sea levels that were up to 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) above normal and in the Germany up to 2.22 m (7 ft 3 in) above normal.[29][30][31] In certain, particularly exposed places, people were evacuated after levees broke and houses were flooded.[31][32] On the opposite, western side of Jutland and Schleswig-Holstein, the waters were forced away from the shore by the wind, with sea levels up to 3 m (9.8 ft) below normal, stranding boats and preventing several ferries from running because of insufficient water depths.[31][33][34]

There have been at least six recorded fatalities: 57 year old Wendy Taylor died after being swept into a river in Angus (Scotland), 56 year old John Gillan died after his van hit a tree near Forfar in Angus, a man in his 60s was killed being swept away because of flood waters near Cleobury Mortimer (England),[35][36], a 33 year old woman was killed on the German island of Fehmarn when her car was hit by a falling tree,[31] and a woman in her 80s in Chesterfield died in flooding. The police searched for a man trapped in a vehicle in floodwater near the Aberdeenshire village of Marykirk, but he was later found dead.[37]

Storm Aline (Wolfgang)[edit]

Storm Aline
Area affectedIberian Peninsula, France
Date of impact18 October 2023 - present
Maximum wind gust146 km/h (90mph), Quiberon, France, 20 October 2023[38]
Fatalities0
Power outagesUnspecified
DamageUnspecified

Storm Aline was named on 18 October 2023. The system was named 'Wolfgang' by the Free University of Berlin.[39] The storm caused heavy rainfall across several parts of Spain and France. More than 20 flights were diverted from Malaga Airport and a gust of 100km/h was reported in Cabrera. [40][41]

Storm Bernard (Xanthos)[edit]

Storm Bernard
Area affectedMorocco, Iberian Peninsula, France, United Kingdom
Date of impact21 October 2023 - present
Fatalities0
Power outagesUnspecified
DamageUnspecified

Season effects[edit]

Storm Dates active Highest wind gust Lowest pressure Areas affected Fatalities (+missing) Damage Refs
Agnes 25 - 29 September 2023 132 km/h (84mph), North Pennines, England.[citation needed] 970 hPa (28.64 inHg) United Kingdom & Ireland 0 Moderate [42]
Babet 16-22 October 2023 185 km/h (115mph) Cairn Gorm, Scotland 977 hPa (28.85 inHg) United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Denmark & Sweden 10 (+2) 3 (indirect deaths) Unspecified
Aline 18 October 2023 - present 146 km/h (90mph), Quiberon, France 965 hPa (28.50 inHg) Portugal, Spain, France, Jersey & Guernsey, Belgium, Switzerland, Northern Italy 0

See also[edit]

  • Weather of: 2023
  • Tropical cyclones in 2023

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Weather Warnings Explanation". Met Éireann The Irish Meteorological Service. Met Éireann. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "UK Storm Centre". Met Office. UK Met Office. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. ^ "KNMI waarschuwingen" (in Dutch). KNMI. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  4. ^ Leitao, Paula; Roulet, Bernard; Rey, Jaime (September 2018). "Storm naming: the First Season of Naming by the South-west Group: Spain-Portugal-France" (PDF). The European Forecaster (Newsletter of the WGCEF) (23): 33–37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  5. ^ Kotroni, V; Lagouvardos, K; Bezes, A; Dafis, S; Galanaki, E; Giannaros, C; Giannaros, T; Karagiannidis, A; Koletsis, I; Kopania, T; Papagiannaki, K; Papavasileiou, G, G; Vafeiadis, V, V; Vougioulas, E (2021). "Storm Naming in the Eastern Mediterranean: Procedures, Events Review and Impact on the Citizens Risk Perception and Readiness". Atmosphere. 12 (11): 1537. Bibcode:2021Atmos..12.1537K. doi:10.3390/atmos12111537.
  6. ^ "Storms in Denmark since 1891" (PDF). dmi.dk. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Naming the Weather: Institute of Meteorology at Freie Universität Assigns Names to Weather Highs and Lows for the Year Ahead: Starting September 25, 2013". Freie Universität Berlin Office of Communication and Marketing. Freie Universität Berlin. 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Weather responders included in 2023/24 storm names".
  9. ^ "UK storm centre". Met Office. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Borrascas con gran impacto de la temporada 2023-24 - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - AEMET. Gobierno de España".
  11. ^ "Storm Naming, Denominazione delle tempeste | Meteo Aeronautica Militare".
  12. ^ "Names of extreme weather phenomena until September". 31 August 2022.
  13. ^ Sabir, Amit (27 September 2023). "שמות האירועים לעונת 2023-24" [The names of the events for the 2023-24 season] (in Hebrew). Israel Meteorological Service. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  14. ^ Met Office (25 September 2023). "#StormAgnes has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain to much of the UK later on Wednesday and into Thursday Stay #WeatherAware" (Post on 𝕏). 𝕏. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  15. ^ Deutscher Wetterdienst (27 September 2023). "Europe Weather Analysis, 27 September 2023" (in German). Free University of Berlin. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Storm Babet latest: If you're just tuning in..." Sky News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Weather tracker: Storm Babet leaves trail of destruction across Portugal". The Guardian. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  18. ^ https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1715397607059558754
  19. ^ https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1715318290128527690
  20. ^ Riegel, Ralph (18 October 2023). "Millions of euro in damage as army deployed to parts of Cork and new rain warning issued for Dublin". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  21. ^ Sheehy, Paschal (19 October 2023). "Cork deals with aftermath of 'month's rain' in 24 hours". RTÉ News. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  22. ^ @metoffice (October 18, 2023). "⚠️A number of warnings are in place for #StormBabet please check our website for all the latest details 👇 bit.ly/WxWarning" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-19 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ @metoffice (October 19, 2023). "⚠️ Damaging winds are affecting parts of Scotland with Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire recently reporting a gust of 77 mph #StormBabet will continue to give very strong easterly winds overnight with winds strengthening on North Sea coasts further south on Friday" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-19 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Gusts, 1h, observations Scotland from 10/19/2023, 03:00pm". Meteologix.com. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  25. ^ @SkyNews (October 19, 2023). "BREAKING: All residents in Brechin, Scotland, have been asked to evacuate due to Storm Babet floods trib.al/kdCLRvL" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-19 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "Hundreds in Scotland told to evacuate as northern Europe braces for gale-force winds and floods". AP News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  27. ^ "Storm surges threaten Baltic coasts of Denmark, Germany and Sweden". MSN. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Flyg och tåg inställda i stormen Babet". Aftonbladet. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Hesnæs havn er "smadret": - Det ligner en krigszone". TV2. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Flere steder måler vandstandsstigninger på mere end to meter". TV2. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  31. ^ a b c d "Ostsee-Sturm: Eine Tote auf Fehmarn, Evakuierungen in SH". NDR. 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Sønderjysk sommerhusområde evakueres efter digebrud". Jyllands-Posten. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Lystbåde står på kølen i Esbjerg Havn". TV2. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  34. ^ "Rekordlav vandstand stopper færger". MaritimeDanmark. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  35. ^ "A summary of today's developments". The Guardian. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  36. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-67163882}
  37. ^ "UK weather: Storm Babet batters large parts of country - as third person confirmed dead". Sky News. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  38. ^ https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/news/12194-storm-babet-and-storm-aline---two-storms-impacting-western-europe-to-end-the-week
  39. ^ Free University of Berlin; Deutscher Wetterdienst (18 October 2023). "Europe Weather Map - 18 October 2023" (Map). Aktion Wetterpate. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  40. ^ https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/10/20/storm-aline-deposits-more-than-40-l-m%c2%b2-of-rain-in-several-regions-of-malaga-province/
  41. ^ https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/weather/weather/2023/10/20/118175/mallorca-weather-storm-aline-100-kilometre-per-hour-gusts.html
  42. ^ "UK, Ireland: Storm Agnes to bring adverse weather across Ireland and the UK through at least Sept. 29".
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