From Henry to Wendy - the storms that could strike at any time

So as well as continuously monitoring weather patterns, the Met Office is prepared for future storms by already having names for them.

They were chosen by the public after it was decided to follow the Americans by giving each severe storm a distinctive name.

So since November last year, the country has endured Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond, Eva, and Frank.

Gertrude is expected to hit Britain on Friday.

Storms are named alternately boy/girl/boy/girl etc. Once the following list of names is exhausted, the process will start again, with this time a boy’s name being used for A and so on.

Five letters are excluded - Q,U,X,Y and Z - because the Met Office feared it would soon run out of viable suggestions.

Forthcoming storm names:

Henry

Imogen

Jake

Katie

Lawrence

Mary

Nigel

Orla

Phil

Rhonda

Steve

Tegan

Vernon

Wendy