Met Office issue verdict on Storm Amy battering UK this weekend

The Met Office has given its verdict on whether the first named storm of the year - and snow - could be heading our way this weekend.

The new storm year has just kicked in, and the list of monikers include Bram, in reference to Dracula writer Bram Stoker, and Wubbo, after the first Dutch man to go into space, Wubbo Ockels. First up is Storm Amy, but when will see make herself known and how destructive might she be? Forecasters have said snow is anticipated for some this weekend, though it is thought this is unrelated to Storm Amy.

A deepening area of low-pressure which looks set to develop over the North Atlantic in the coming days has caused meteorologists to speculate that it could be within days, with a week of unsettled weatherforecast to sweep the country between now and the weekend.

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Conditions turn wetter and windier from today, and the Met Office have spoken about the chance of the first storm of the calendar. Heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds could hit the country on Saturday evening or early on Sunday – although the forecasters state it is still too early to announce the expected arrival of Storm Amy.

Addressing whether we could see the first named storm of the season this weekend, deputy chief meteorologist Tom Crabtree said: "We are keeping an eye on a deepening area of low-pressure which will develop over the North Atlantic during the coming days and might bring impactful weather to the UK, most likely on Sunday and Monday.

"At present, it’s too early to say the precise impact this might have on the weather, but it’s likely to bring widespread heavy rain and strong winds, most probably to the north of the UK."

He added: "We are closely monitoring what the various computer models are suggesting and will keep people updated as our forecasts evolve over the next few days."

The country experienced its wettest week for seven months last week, according to the Environment Agency. The North West, South East and South West all received more than 35mm of rain between 27 August and 2 September.

Storm names for 2025/26

• Amy
• Bram
• Chandra
• Dave
• Eddie
• Fionnuala
• Gerard
• Hannah
• Isla
• Janna
• Kasia
• Lilith
• Marty
• Nico
• Oscar
• Patrick
• Ruby
• Stevie
• Tadhg
• Violet
• Wubbo

How are storm names chosen?

UK storms are named in collaboration with the Irish (Met Éireann) and Dutch (KNMI) weather services. Names are submitted by the public from each country with 50,000 votes made.

You might have noticed that while the names are alphabetically ordered, there are no names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z. As reported by the BBC, this is due to the fact the US National Hurricane Centre does not use these letters either, so it keeps the names consistent across the Atlantic.

On top of this, offensive, hard-to-pronounce, controversial, and public figure names are banned. Storms will only be named if they are expected to cause medium to high damage to the UK, Ireland, and/or the Netherlands.

Wind is the main factor behind the classification, but rain and snow can affect it too. Experts also say naming a storm makes it easier to get warnings out to the public.