Storm Abigail

Abigail

File:Abigail Nov 12 2015 1155Z.jpg MODIS image of Abigail on 12 November 2015
Type	Extratropical cyclone
Formed	7 November 2015
Dissipated	15 November 2015
Lowest pressure	964 millibars (28.5 inHg)
Highest gust	84 mph (135 km/h) (South Uist, Outer Hebrides)
Power outages	20,000
Areas affected	Western Canada, Eastern Canada, Northern Europe

Storm Abigail was the first storm to be officially named (jointly) by the Met Office of the United Kingdom and Met Éireann of the Republic of Ireland, on 10 November 2015. It brought high winds, rain, lightning, and wintry showers across the north and northwest of Scotland.

History

File:Abigail 2015 track.png

Path of Storm Abigail

On 10 November, a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: "There remains some uncertainty regarding the exact extent and timing of strongest winds but current forecasts suggest that this storm could have some medium impacts such as disruption to transport and so a warning has been issued and the first storm has been named as Abigail."

On 12 November, local ferries were affected by bad weather with many services cancelled. It was announced that every school in the Western Isles and Shetland were to be closed to pupils on 13 November. The storm left more than 20,000 homes without power, according to energy company SSE.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency also warned of the risk of flooding due to the storm, as the weather system was anticipated to create a storm surge along the south-west and west coast, due to coincidence with a high tide.

Warning	Force	Information
Amber	11	"Be prepared" weather warning was issued on 11 November for the Western Isles, north west Highlands, parts of Argyll and Orkney. A yellow "be aware" warning was applied to the rest of Scotland.

Beaufort Wind Scale

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Calm	Light Air	Light Breeze	Gentle Breeze	Moderate Breeze	Fresh Breeze	Strong Breeze	Near Gale	Gale	Strong Gale	Storm	Violent Storm	Hurricane Force
Light Winds						High Winds		Gale-force		Storm-force		Hurricane-force
<1 mph <1 knot <0.3 m/s	1–3 mph 1–3 knots 0.3–1.5 m/s	4–7 mph 4–6 knots 1.6–3.3 m/s	8–12 mph 7–10 knots 3.4–5.5 m/s	13–18 mph 11–16 knots 5.5–7.9 m/s	18–24 mph 17–21 knots 8.0–10.7 m/s	25–31 mph 22–27 knots 10.8–13.8 m/s	31–38 mph 28–33 knots 13.9–17.1 m/s	39–46 mph 34–40 knots 17.2–20.7 m/s	47-54 mph 41–47 knots 20.8–24.4 m/s	55–63 mph 48–55 knots 24.5–28.4 m/s	64–72 mph 56–63 knots 28.5–32.6 m/s	≥73 mph ≥63 knots ≥32.7 m/s

Background

Earlier in 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann announced a pilot project to name wind storms and asked the public for suggestions. The full list of names, common to both the UK and Ireland, chosen for future selection are: Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond, Eva, Frank, Gertrude, Henry, Imogen, Jake, Katie, Lawrence, Mary, Nigel, Orla, Phil, Rhonda, Steve, Tegan, Vernon and Wendy.

A storm will be named when it is deemed able to potentially cause "substantial" impact on the UK or Ireland.

They will be taken from the list, in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female names. This is the same naming convention as that used for tropical cyclones in the United States. Where weather events result from ex-tropical storms or hurricanes, the original name allocated by the National Hurricane Center in the US will be used.

See also

• European windstorm
• Winter storm naming in the UK and Ireland
• 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season