Storm Boelo has been named by the Met Office and is set to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the whole of the UK on Saturday, just one day after Storm Austen passes through the country.
Storm Austen is forecast to move across the south of the UK late Thursday and during Friday morning, bringing the greatest risk of disruptive weather to southern and southwestern areas. Alongside severe gales, some locations will see spells of heavy rain.
Severe Weather Alerts for Storm Austen
Several Met Office severe weather alerts have been issued for Storm Austen, including an amber "risk to life" warning for wind in south west England on Friday, where wind gusts could reach as high as 80mph. Two yellow alerts, for wind and rain, have also been issued for Friday affecting parts of Scotland, London and south east England, south west England, West Midlands and Wales.
After Storm Austen blows over the country, a brief respite is expected early on Saturday before another spell of wet and windy weather potentially affects a similar area.
Storm Boelo's Expected Impact
Storm Boelo (pronounced Boo-loh) is set to bring strong wind gusts and heavy rain to the whole of the country on Saturday. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Met Office wrote: "The Met Office has named #StormBoelo The storm is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain across the UK on Saturday. The strongest winds will be across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England."
Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Chris Bulmer, said: "Storm Boelo will bring strong winds and heavy rain to Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England over the weekend, impacting the opposite end of the country to Storm Austen. Gusts of 70-80mph in exposed coastal areas and high ground are possible, with 50-60mph gusts more widely."
How Storms Are Named
"The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy rain, making for an impactful weekend of weather. Severe weather warnings and forecast detail will continue to develop, so people should keep up to date with the forecast over the next few days."
In the UK, a storm will be named when it has the potential to cause disruption or damage which could result in an amber or red warning. This is based on the Met Office's National Severe Weather Warnings service, which combines both the impact the weather may have and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.
Storms will usually be named on the basis of the impacts from strong winds, but the impacts of other weather types will also be considered, such as rain if its impact could lead to flooding as advised by the Environment Agency, SEPA and Natural Resources Wales flood warnings, or snow.
