Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 hr ago
Why the UK has yet to see a named storm this season
The UK has not yet had a named storm this season, as November approaches.
High pressure has steered deep Atlantic weather systems away, while the jet stream has often stayed north or north-west of the country.
This has brought warmer conditions and less rain across much of England and Wales, while Scotland and Northern Ireland have had more of the heaviest rain.
Some areas in southern England face severe drought, with reservoir levels exceptionally low.
The Met Office expects the jet stream to shift, allowing wetter and windier weather to reach more of the UK in the coming week.
Its outlook for October to December gives twice the usual chance of wetter weather and 1.3 times the usual chance of windier weather, patterns it says are consistent with previous El Niño events.
Forecasters will monitor the chance of the season’s first widely disruptive weather later this week.
The UK has not yet had a named storm this season because high pressure has steered deep Atlantic lows away.
The jet stream has often been north or north-west of the UK, bringing warmer conditions and reducing rainfall in many areas.
Parts of England and Wales have been much drier than normal, and some areas of southern England have been declared in severe drought.
The Met Office outlook gives twice the normal chance of wetter weather and 1.3 times the normal chance of windier weather from October to December.
A shift in the jet stream could bring more widespread wet and windy weather in the coming week.
- Who
- The UK has not yet had a named storm this season. Storms in the western naming group are named by the UK Met Office, Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Netherlands’ KNMI.
- What
- The UK has had a quiet start to the storm season, with high pressure steering deep Atlantic lows away.
- When
- The article was published on 17 October 2026. The UK had not yet seen a named storm this season.
- Where
- The UK, with the heaviest rain focused on Scotland and Northern Ireland and unusually dry conditions in parts of England and Wales.
- Why
- High pressure has had more influence while the jet stream has often sat north or north-west of the UK, steering stormy low-pressure systems away.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The UK, Ireland and the Netherlands began naming storms as part of a western storm-naming group.
Parts of Herefordshire had received only a tenth of their usual rainfall for the month.
A change in the jet stream is expected to allow deeper low-pressure systems to affect more parts of the UK.
The Met Office outlook forecasts twice the normal chance of wetter weather and 1.3 times the normal chance of windier weather.
- Storm naming group
- UK, Ireland and the Netherlands
- Storm naming began
- 2015
- Herefordshire rainfall
- A tenth of the usual amount by mid-October
- Wetter-weather outlook
- Twice the normal chance
- Windier-weather outlook
- 1.3 times the normal chance