Why is it called Storm Babet and where does the name come from?

Storm Babet is the latest in a long line of storms that have battered the UK over the past few years.

Many may have noticed that such storms always have specific names to identify them. Well, the naming system in the UK isn't simply random and actually is an important practice for meteorologists that spans decades.

Storms began receiving names in the 1950s so that people could engage with weather forecasts much more easily. It also made it easier for forecasters to talk about storms and discuss their progress across different media channels.

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While the practice was seen in America for more than 70 years, it was only in 2015 when the Met Office in the UK and Ireland adopted a similar model. Generally, they draw a list of names from a shortlist that is created by members of the public, and even more recently from the Netherlands' national weather service.

However, this year, the Met Office announced it would adopt a new naming method to honour people who keep others safe during periods of extreme weather. We first saw this with Storm Agnes in late September of this year which was named after Agnes Mary Clerke, an Irish astronomer.

Going in alphabetical order, this means the second storm of the year, Storm Babet, is actually named in honour of a woman who visited the Dutch KMNI's head office and entered her name into the lot. She stated that her reason for doing so was because she was born during a storm.

Fortunately, we don't have to guess what future storms in 2023/24 will be called because the Met Office already released a