Great Western Coffee Shop

Wouldn't fancy being a watchman on the Devon seawall on Friday but be interesting to see how the new defences perform.

Hopefully, with the forecast winds being westerly, there shouldn't be too much of an issue at Dawlish. It would appear that the Atlantic coast and Bristol Channel are of more concern.

It is only an amber warning for Friday, they occur fairly frequently so i would not get too worried.

Storm Eunice is likely to bring damaging winds across large parts of the UK on Friday 18 February.

To make sure trains are able to run safely, speed restrictions will be required across the entire GWR network.

The priority will be to keep trains running and customers moving safely, but changes to services are likely to be needed to allow that to happen and customers may wish to alter their plans.

We are expecting to significantly reduce the number of long-distance services and some branch lines in Devon and Cornwall will have to close.  We are working hard to finalise the timetable and expect to publish this later today.

Ticket easements:

Tickets dated for travel on Friday 18 February will be valid for travel from today (Thursday 17 February) right through to Monday 21 February.

No sign of storms down south. Just went through DDawlish, sea flat as a pancake

In anticipation of significant high winds tomorrow, train company GWR is warning customers that they expect to cut services by half, the mainline in south Wales will be closed, and where long-distance trains can operate, journey times will be significantly longer.

The Met Office has upgraded their severe weather warning to red – the highest level – for parts of south west England and south Wales.

Current forecasts suggest high winds will exceed 100mph. To make sure trains are able to run safely, speed restrictions across the Great Western Network are required.

This means GWR is expecting to significantly reduce the number of long-distance services, and where trains can run, journeys are expected to take much longer.

The main line in south Wales will be closed with services terminating at Bristol Parkway, some branch lines in Devon and Cornwall will have to close, and where bus replacement services are able to operate, they too will be affected by very poor road conditions, possible road closures, and are likely to be very busy.

Disruption is likely to continue into the weekend as Network Rail works to check and clear debris and fallen trees over 1,000 miles of track.

To help customers, GWR is allowing people with tickets for travel on Friday 18 February to be able to travel on Thursday 17 through to and including Monday 21 February.

GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:

“Speed restrictions will be put in place on our network, but the extent of those restrictions can only be determined by conditions on the ground and are likely to change throughout the day.

“We will continue to run as many trains as we can but those who need to travel travel should be aware that we will have to reduce the number of trains we can run, journey times will take longer, and those trains we can run will be much busier.

“Please do heed the usual advice to check before you travel, and if you hold a ticket for tomorrow [Friday 18 February] and would like to travel today or up to Monday, we have eased restrictions so that you are able to do so.”

The priority will be to keep trains running and customers moving safely, but changes to services are likely to be needed to allow that to happen and customers may wish to alter their plans.

Mike Gallop, Network Rail Western route and strategic operations director, said:

“We’re working really closely with GWR and the other train companies to keep trains and passengers moving safely during this period of extreme weather.

“The severe weather associated with Storm Eunice is expected to bring significantly high winds of up to 100mph, and in places may result in trees and debris being blown onto train lines which blocks train movements and can cause delays and cancellations.

“Our operational colleagues will be out there on the front line braving the conditions to respond to any incidents and keep the railway clear and trains moving where it is safe and possible to do so.

“Storms can create a fast-moving picture so we’re asking passengers to please plan ahead and check before they travel.”

Those who choose not to travel at all will be able to claim a refund/allowed to amend their ticket. Those who travel and are delayed may be entitled to delay repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 mins or more.

Services on all branch lines in Devon & Cornwall suspended tomorrow, except for Exmouth-Exeter.

Severn Beach line suspended.

Temporary speed restriction in place across entire route and reduced number of mainline services operating.

Changes to GWR Services:

We are working hard to enter all the changes into online journey planners and expect this to be completed by 10pm today (Thursday 17 February). We strongly recommend you check all journeys prior to travelling in case there have been any late changes. A summary of expected changes on Friday 18 February follows:

High speed services

London Paddington – Bristol Temple Meads

1 train per hour in either direction
London Paddington – Cardiff Central/Swansea

The mainline in South Wales will be closed all day on Friday.  There will be no GWR services operating between London & South Wales.
Customers are advised not to travel to/from South Wales.
An hourly service will continue to operate between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway.
London Paddington – Worcester/Hereford

Services will operate between Didcot Parkway & Worcester/Great Malvern only.  Customers should change at Didcot Parkway for onward connections towards Reading & London Paddington.
London Paddington – Cheltenham Spa

Services will operate between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa only.  Customers should change at Swindon for onward connections towards Reading & London Paddington.
London Paddington - West of England

Services will operate between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids only.  Customers should change at Exeter St Davids for onward connections towards Plymouth & Penzance.
Thames Valley

London Paddington – Didcot Parkway

Stopping services operate between Reading – Didcot Parkway only.  Customers should change at Reading and use TfL Rail services for intermediate stations between Reading & Ealing Broadway.  Your GWR tickets will be valid on these services.
Reading – Newbury

Reading-Newbury services will not run, however an hourly Reading – Bedwyn service will operate calling at all stations.
Reading – Gatwick Airport

Direct services between Reading - Gatwick Airport will not run, however Reading – Redhill stopping services will continue to operate as normal.
The following Thames Valley branch lines are planned to operate as normal:

Reading – Basingstoke

Twyford – Henley-on-Thames

Slough – Windsor & Eton Central

Maidenhead – Marlow

West Ealing – Greenford

Bristol area

Cardiff Central – Taunton / Penzance

The mainline in South Wales will be closed all day on Friday.  There will be no GWR services operating between Bristol & South Wales.
Customers are advised not to travel to/from South Wales.
An hourly service will operate between Bristol Parkway and Taunton (via Weston-Super-Mare).  Customers should change at Taunton for onward connections towards the South West.
Local Weston-Super-Mare – Bristol services will not run.

Gloucester – Weymouth services via Bristol Temple Meads will operate as normal.

No services will operate between Bristol Temple Meads – Avonmouth – Severn Beach.  Customers are advised not to travel.

Devon Metro

An amended service will operate between Paignton – Exeter St Davids – Exmouth.

No services will operate between Exeter St Davids – Okehampton – Barnstaple.  Customers are advised not to travel.

Plymouth & Cornwall

Mainline services between Plymouth and Penzance will continue to operate, however train times will be amended.

Services will be suspended on the following routes all day; customers are advised not to travel.

Plymouth – Gunnislake
Liskeard – Looe
Par – Newquay
Truro – Falmouth Docks
St Erth – St Ives

Luckily for me, I am laid low by Covid, and won't be going anywhere on Friday anyway.

Have I missed it in the reading, or are they not telling us about Swindon to Westbury?

I shall be watching Paignton - Newton Abbot as the main problem I can see is the bridge replacement at Hollicombe already delayed by a month, because of supply chain issues, could have the site damaged by winds. It is also here that there is always a danger of the track falling into the sea.

Have I missed it in the reading, or are they not telling us about Swindon to Westbury?

Cardiff-Portsmouth not shown either. We know it won’t be starting and ending in Cardiff of course.

Have I missed it in the reading, or are they not telling us about Swindon to Westbury?

All TfW services withdrawn tomorrow and GWR only going as far west as Bristol Parkway.

They haven’t so they run as the existing temporary timetable I assume.  (And Westbury to Swindon).

A new Red warning has just been issued for SE England valid from 10:00 to 15:00.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-02-18&id=e772aed2-9ec5-490c-9b78-882b72b09304&details (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-02-18&id=e772aed2-9ec5-490c-9b78-882b72b09304&details)

A new Red warning has just been issued for SE England valid from 10:00 to 15:00.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-02-18&id=e772aed2-9ec5-490c-9b78-882b72b09304&details (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-02-18&id=e772aed2-9ec5-490c-9b78-882b72b09304&details)

In my view, all reasonable efforts should made to provide a basic urban commuter service. Many people including those in vital public public services, are reliant on the train to get to work.

The relatively short routes are somewhat easier to clear of trees and other obstructions. Significantly reduced speeds are reasonable.

How is a doctor resident in Reading to get to work in a London hospital if they dont drive and there are no trains ?

Longer distance services should operate if possible but are in my view a lower priority. Very few London hospital doctors live in Plymouth. Leisure travelers might be postponing their journey in any case.

There is also a more general consideration, that we should be encouraging green transport choices rather than driving. If urban commuter services are not available in extreme weather, then key workers might feel the need to buy a car instead.
Having purchased the vehicle and paid the fixed costs thereof, then the petrol cost may compare favourably to the train fare.

So even a few days a year of rail closures may significantly encourage driving at the expense of train travel.

How is a doctor resident in Reading to get to work in a London hospital if they dont drive and there are no trains ?

Best batten down the hatches, open a bottle of Port and hope for the best. This is not a day to fret about trains v cars.

I wish everyone all the best today, stay safe all.

Rather terrifying here in Sandhurst at the moment with the way that the very large branches of the mature oak tree in my back garden are thrashing around each time a fresh batch of severe gusts comes along!

I've just lost power here in Templecombe. Seems only one phase has gone as some neighbours still have power.

I've just lost power here in Templecombe. Seems only one phase has gone as some neighbours still have power.

Line Updates
Cancellations to services between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa
Cancellations to services between Reading and Guildford
Cancellations to services between Basingstoke and Reading
Cancellations to services between Gatwick Airport and Guildford via Redhill
Cancellations to services between Bath Spa and Westbury
Cancellations to services on all routes
Cancellations to services between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple
Cancellations to services between Plymouth and Gunnislake
Cancellations to services between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach via Clifton Down
Cancellations to services between Liskeard and Looe
Cancellations to services between Par and Newquay
Cancellations to services between Truro and Falmouth Docks
Cancellations to services between St Erth and St Ives
Cancellations to services between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central
Cancellations to services between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton
Cancellations to services between Bristol Parkway and Swansea via Cardiff Central

Conditions have worsened and we have suspended all rail services.
 
Customers should not therefore set out to travel and we have updated our advice through media interviews and on social media such as @gwrhelp
 
Our teams are working hard to look after customers who have already started their journeys, and once it is safe, they will be clearing debris from lines so that we can try and restart services. 
 
Services are likely to remain suspended or disrupted for the rest of the day, and this will knock on into services tomorrow.
 
We will update you again when we know more, but for now, anything you can do to spread the message not to travel, perhaps by sharing our twitter message, would be very helpful.
 

This presentation is very visually alluring:

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-8.54,53.69,3447

(https://i.gyazo.com/123abd6932af532f32ad764db1f77722.jpg)

Just in

In a joint statement, South Western Railway and Network Rail said:

“Gusts of more than 90mph wind have caused multiple incidents across the SWR network today, with 30 fallen trees already blocking key routes.

“As a result, SWR services have been suspended until at least 18.00 and we strongly urge customers not to travel at this time. We are working hard to restore services, but ask customers to make alternative travel plans if they can.
“Customers should regularly check the ‘Plan my journey’ page on SWR’s website, which will be updated with the latest information every hour.

“We would like to apologise to our customers for the impact this will have on their journeys, but – as always – our primary concern is the safety and welfare of customers and colleagues out on the network”.

The Needles on the Isle of Wight recorded a wind gust of 122 mph this morning

This is provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England

Given the forecast and the known severity of the storm, it would perhaps have been better to not try to operate any services today.................what you have now is quite possibly thousands of people who are stranded without any means of getting home.

I wonder what GWR are going to do for them?

Fallen tree blocking the line at Bradford-on-Avon according to Network Rail on Twitter

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1494644022891188238?s=20&t=TUeio0kJ25mielaVDJ4J1A (https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1494644022891188238?s=20&t=TUeio0kJ25mielaVDJ4J1A)

Roof blown off a Network Rail building at Banbury.
(https://i.gyazo.com/123abd6932af532f32ad764db1f77722.jpg)

Video of it happening here: https://twitter.com/networkrail/status/1494697757684215812

Dear Chris
 
Conditions have worsened and we have suspended all rail services.
 
Customers should not therefore set out to travel and we have updated our advice through media interviews and on social media such as @gwrhelp
 
Our teams are working hard to look after customers who have already started their journeys, and once it is safe, they will be clearing debris from lines so that we can try and restart services. 
 
Services are likely to remain suspended or disrupted for the rest of the day, and this will knock on into services tomorrow.
 
We will update you again when we know more, but for now, anything you can do to spread the message not to travel, perhaps by sharing our twitter message, would be very helpful.
 
Best wishes
 
Jane and Toby
 
Jane Jones 
Head of Public Affairs 
Great Western Railway 
 
Toby Elliott
Head of Communications
Network Rail Western

Services remain suspended and are unlikely to re-open this evening. This will disrupt services tomorrow, especially in the early morning, and in some places, services may not restart until midday.
 
This is to allow for daylight checks of all our lines and to make sure all debris has been removed.
 
We will have updated information on our website, but before setting out tomorrow we are advising customers to check their journey using www.journeycheck.com/GreatWesternRailway
 
Tickets for travel on Saturday can now also be used on Sunday or Monday, and we will refund any tickets where customers cannot travel.
 
We would like to say thank you for all the kind messages of support. Staff have been working hard throughout the day to make sure we keep customers safe, and are now doing all they can to help get customers who had started their journey to get home, or into alternative overnight accommodation.
 
We hope that by Sunday services will be fully restored, but please do double check before you set out if you are travelling.

I tip my hat to the commercial jet pilots making landings today in the UK. There's some great videos on YouTube and social media, particularly from Heathrow. Pilots certainly earning their money today.

Looking at the various live signalling maps there are a fair few empty stock trains moving about. Probably a mixture of route proving and trying to get stock back in the right place as much as possible.

Cancellations to services on all routes

Due to severe weather:
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
Work continues to clear debris from the tracks, and move trains and staff to where they need to be to safely run our planned timetable.
-
However, the extent of the work and the fact that hundreds of miles of track needs to be safety checked, means that train services will continue to be significantly disrupted today, Saturday 19 February.
-
We continue to advise customers not to travel at this time.
-
No trains will operate on the GWR network until at least 10:00 - with the majority of services not returning until the afternoon.
-
Services in Devon and Cornwall have been particularly affected and will not run until at least 13:00.
-
We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services. Our teams are working hard to get trains running safely again as soon as possible.
-
Please check the latest situation before attempting to travel.
-
Ticket easements:
-
Tickets dated for travelon Saturday 19 February will be valid for travel later on Saturday 19, Sunday 20 or Monday 21 February.
-
Customers are strongly advised to delay their journey until later in the day or considertravelling on Sunday or Monday instead.
-

Spoke to a pal this morning who is a radiotherapy technician at a London hospital, he travelled to work early yesterday on the trains that were running and later found out that everything had ground to a halt.

GWR wouldn't help him with a taxi and had nothing else to offer, he considered the Tube to Heathrow but no joy there and nothing Waterloo to Reading.

Was looking like a hotel but then recalled a bus that runs from Kensington to Slough, and managed to get it, although it was a tortuous journey home.

Notwithstanding any churlish comments about those like my friend who found themselves stranded being the authors of their own misfortune, I'd like to thank those essential workers like him who made the effort for doing so, and ensuring that urgent medical procedures and the like were able to go ahead.

Hopefully this will only be a once in a decade/decades event.

I've had a single roofing tile slip a bit but that seems to be the extent of the damage inflicted on me by Eunice (so far!), I hope everyone else has come through unscathed.

I've had a single roofing tile slip a bit but that seems to be the extent of the damage inflicted on me by Eunice (so far!), I hope everyone else has come through unscathed.

This experience, does in my view support my earlier remarks about the considerable importance of providing local trains to and within urban areas, in order that essential workers may get to work, and home again. My earlier remark mentioned doctors specifically, but could reasonably be understood to include "and other healthcare workers"

Minor claim to fame.....wasn't today, but the Captain of this plane is my cousin, he decided to go around again and  took over control from the pilot.

https://youtu.be/Z7JKt0jwuXc

Storm Eunice Severe Disruption
Last updated at 12:20

What's going on
Due to severe weather all lines are blocked. Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

What we're doing about it

Winds of over 90 miles per hour have caused over 40 fallen trees to block routes across our network, and our patrol teams are continuing to find and remove trees on key lines this morning.

While we are working hard to run as many services as we safely can, we strongly advise you not to travel on our network until further notice. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we’re able to get you to where you need to be, as replacement services will not be available on certain routes.

We're sorry for the disruption that this is causing, and thank you for your patience as we deal with the severe impact of Storm Eunice and work to restore services as soon as possible.

 

Tickets for travel today will be accepted on Sunday 20th and Monday 21st February. If you are travelling on an advanced ticket on Sunday 20th and Monday 21st February, please try to travel at a similar time to your original booking. Please note engineering works are also taking place on the South Western Railway network this weekend and a number of replacement buses are in operation. You can find further information on this here: www.southwesternrailway.com/engineering

Still no services on SWR.

Out of interest - does anyone know whether the (apparently) over-engineered OHL on the GW Main Line all stayed in place during the storm, damage by falling trees or other structures excepted?

You do of course realise that 387s, and indeed anything else, finds it veey difficult to step over a fallen tree.

And I wouldn't like to be the magaer that sent his staff out into that lot with chain saws, although they might be a little help to cut up the second tree that fell, this time on them. Would you do the sending out or the job itself?

Sometimes things aren't that straightforward...

There have been some trains between Axminster and Basingstoke/Waterloo since first thing.

The structures being affected by high winds is rare, although TTC (twin track cantilever) suffer from high win loading, the wire even on the GW can get blown out of gauge in high winds.  The biggest risk to OLE is objects carried in high winds, plastic sheeting etc, that get caught up in the wires

Looking at RTT it would appear that services between Salisbury and Waterloo have been running pretty much all day uninterrupted, whereas west of Salisbury has been very sparse with no particular pattern throughout the day. Looking at RTT for Crewkerne from first thing up until 18:45 (time of posting), 29 services were expected, but only 8 actually called (07:18, 09:21; 14:18; 16:17 and 18:19 Up services and just 13:35; 14:58 and 18:45 Down)

When I went past Wokingham station at about half past three yesterday, I was a bit surprised to see a Turbo in platform 1 - I thought they'd all stopped. In fact it had stopped; it was the 10:29 to Redhill that had been stood there ever since. Other trains on both services stopped at various other points along their route at around the same time.

There has been no service at all today. While there's no shortage of trees round here suitable for blocking railways, and that's true for much of the North Downs Line too, I was not sure why no SWR trains could have run. There are two ECS runs showing on RTT: one to Waterloo at 10:11, taking its time, ...

Cancellations to services between Reading and Redhill
Due to an obstruction on the track between Reading and Redhill all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
A number of fallen trees are blocking the line between Reading and Redhill.

-
We continue to advise customers not to travel at this time.
-

We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services. Our teams are working hard to get trains running safely again as soon as possible.
-
Please check the latest situation before attempting to travel.

Cancellations to services on all routes
Due to severe weather:
Train services running across the whole Great Western Railway network may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 13:00 21/02.
Customer Advice
We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services. Our teams are working hard to get trains running safely again as soon as possible.
-
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for much of the GWR network on Sunday and Monday. Strong winds are forecast, posing a risk to lineside trees and structures already weakened by Storm Eunice.
-
As a result, a 50mph speed restriction will be in place across the GWR network for the whole of Sunday and may be extended through Monday.
-
We will be running a significantly reduced service, and late notice delays and cancellations are likely.
-
Services that are able to run will be busy, and journeys will take longer. Degraded road conditions in the region will mean alternative transport will not be available.
-
Only travel if absolutely necessary, andPlease check the latest situation before attempting to travel.
-
Ticket easements:
-
Tickets dated for travelon Friday 18 February, Saturday 19 & Sunday 20February will be valid for travel until Wednesday 23 February.
-
Customers are strongly advised to check their journey before setting off and if possible, travel on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday instead.

Looks like they are cancelling almost all trains between London and Exeter. The handful that are still down to run are going to be absolutely rammed.

Looks like they are cancelling almost all trains between London and Exeter. The handful that are still down to run are going to be absolutely rammed.

Storm Franklin is forecast to hit the UK after Storm Eunice left 1.4 million homes without power.
The Met Office has issued an amber wind warning for Northern Ireland for Monday morning and yellow ones for parts of the UK from Sunday.
This comes days after one of the worst storms in the UK in decades in which three people died.

At Wokingham, a train has run! Only to Guildford (due in 11:30), but there is scheduled work just after there and buses timetabled to link to Shalford. So far no buses have run, but then no trains have turned up. At least, not at the Guildford end - two trains have left Shalford towards Gatwick, so why no buses to feed them?

150248/150265/150246 are working 1A86 14:15 Exeter St Davids to Reading:

https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204 (https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204)

150248/150265/150246 are working 1A86 14:15 Exeter St Davids to Reading:

https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204 (https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204)

Hope there's plenty of space on up and down workings for the passengers (ie it's not too full)

You’d be a bit gutted if you had a first class ticket, but probably just grateful the train you are on is actually running.

Talking of first class on a 150, did any ever have a first class section just behind the driver’s cab in their very early days? I remember there used to be a sliding door to that section of the train.

150248/150265/150246 are working 1A86 14:15 Exeter St Davids to Reading:

https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204 (https://twitter.com/Tall_Controller/status/1495403416293683204)

Just passed through Melksham to add to the excitement of any passengers expecting a journey via Newbury.

Not doing too bad, all things considered and given the 75MPH top speed.  34 late passing Didcot Parkway  https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:14087/2022-02-20/detailed

Potential 'Storm Gladys' could hit UK just days after havoc of Storms Franklin, Eunice and Dudley

Not doing too bad, all things considered and given the 75MPH top speed.  34 late passing Didcot Parkway  https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:14087/2022-02-20/detailed

Storm FRANKLIN it is ... then - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60452334

And here it is at Didcot  https://twitter.com/TonyP146/status/1495465089469755397

It's getting quite squally here, though not like Friday of course - it's dark, and there's more rain. Meanwhile, SWR have at last managed to get a train all the way from Waterloo to Reading. Nominally that's 2C51 and arrived 47L at 19:04, but the timetable (even as amended) has little to do with it. There have been a handful of trains so far, all of them part-route but in overlapping parts, which is odd.

Beyond Eurnice - a new storm .... this dated 20th February 2022

From ITV (https://www.itv.com/news/2022-02-20/potential-storm-gladys-could-hit-days-after-storms-franklin-eunice-and-dudley)

As part of the (virtual) cleanup and activity for the multiple storm, I have retitled this thread to cover the whole series of storms.  I did consider splitting each into a separate thread, but it was hard to identify where one ended and the next started ....

Subject line liable to further amendment for Hubert, Ida, John, Keira and Luke.

As part of the (virtual) cleanup and activity for the multiple storm, I have retitled this thread to cover the whole series of storms.  I did consider splitting each into a separate thread, but it was hard to identify where one ended and the next started ....

All of it, the whole circulation.

Yellow warning from yesterday evening through to 1pm today, so last night was during the storm

So the purpose of naming storms is ...?

...so the media can make up catchy headlines.  ;)

When is a storm named?

The criteria we use for naming storms is based on our National Severe Weather Warnings service. This is based on a combination of both the impact the weather may have, and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.

A storm will be named when it has the potential to cause an amber or red warning.

Other weather types will also be considered, specifically rain if its impact could lead to flooding as advised by the Environment Agency, SEPA and Natural Resources Wales flood warnings. Therefore 'storm systems' could be named on the basis of impacts from the wind but also include the impacts of rain and snow.

As Eunice was across other EU countries other than the Netherlands!

The Northern Group reserves the right to use another name if they judge another group has used a name that is unpronounceable, which they considered was the case for Eunice.

Nor would EU-NICE as some people think EU-nasty.