2024–25 European windstorm season
| First storm formed | 8 September 2024 |
|---|---|
| Strongest storm1 | Storm Boris 999 hPa (29.50 inHg) |
| Total storms | 2 |
| Total fatalities | 7 [1] |
| 1Strongest storm is determined by lowest pressure and maximum recorded non-mountainous wind gust is also included for reference. | |
The 2024–2025 European windstorm season is the decadal and current season of the European windstorm naming in Europe. The new season's storm names were announced just before the start of the season on 28 August 2024. Storms that occur up until 31 August 2025 will be included in this season. This was the sixth season where the Netherlands participated (through KNMI), alongside the United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann in the western group. The Portuguese, Spanish, French and Belgian meteorological agencies collaborated for the eighth time, joined by Luxembourg's agency (Southwestern group). This is the fourth season where Greece, Israel and Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean group), and Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta (Central Mediterranean group) named storms which affected their areas.
Background and naming
[edit]Definitions and naming conventions
[edit]There is no universal definition of what constitutes a windstorm in Europe, nor is there a universally accepted system of naming storms. For example, in the Western Group, consisting of the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands, a storm is named if one of the meteorological agencies in those countries issues an orange warning (amber in the UK), which generally requires a likelihood of widespread sustained wind speeds greater than 65 km/h, or widespread wind gust speeds over 110 km/h. (Required wind speeds vary slightly by agency and by season.) Both the likelihood of impact and the potential severity of the system are considered when naming a storm.[2][3][4] The Southwest Group of Spain, Portugal, and France share a similar storm-naming scheme, though their names differ from those used by the Western Group.[5] In Greece, however, naming criteria were established for storms when the storm's forecast winds are above 50 km/h over land, with the wind expected to have a significant impact to infrastructures.[6] In Denmark, a windstorm must have an hourly average windspeed of at least 90 km/h (25 m/s).[7]
The Meteorology Department of the Free University of Berlin (FUB) names all high and low pressure systems that affect Europe, though they do not assign names to any actual storms.[8] A windstorm that is associated with one of these pressure systems will at times be recognized by the name assigned to the associated pressure system by the FUB. Named windstorms that have been recognized by a European meteorological agency are described in this article.
Naming conventions used in Europe are generally based on conditions that are forecast, not conditions that have actually occurred, as public awareness and preparedness are often cited as the main purpose of the naming schemes–for example, a reference.[3] Therefore, an assignment of a storm name does not mean that a storm will actually develop.
Western Group (United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands)
[edit]In 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann announced a project to name storms as part of the "Name our Storms" project for windstorms and asked the public for suggestions. The meteorological offices produced a full list of names for 2015–2016 through 2017–2018, common to both the United Kingdom and Ireland, with the Netherlands taking part from 2019 onwards. Names in the United Kingdom will be based on the National Severe Weather Warning Service.
The following names were chosen for the 2024–2025 season in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands.[9] For a windstorm to be named, the United Kingdom's Met Office, Ireland's Met Eireann, or the Netherlands' Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) have to issue an amber weather warning, preferably for wind, but a storm can also be named for amber warnings of rain and snow (e.g. Storm Arwen in 2021).[10]
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South-Western Group (France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg)
[edit]This was the eighth year in which the meteorological agencies of France, Spain and Portugal named storms that affected their areas.[11]
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Central Mediterranean Group (Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta)
[edit]The following names are chosen for the 2024–25 season in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Malta on 1 September 2024.[12]
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Eastern Mediterranean Group (Greece, Israel and Cyprus)
[edit]The Eastern Mediterranean Group works slightly differently compared to other naming lists, instead of ending a season on the 31 August of that year, they end the season on the 30 September of that year. The storm names in Greece, Israel and Cyprus will be announced on 30 September as there season begins and ends a month later than the other groups.
Will be announced on 30 September 2024
Northern Group (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)
[edit]This naming group, like the naming from the Free University of Berlin, does not use a naming list but names storms when it has not received a name by any other meteorological service in Europe and is projected to affect Denmark, Norway or Sweden.
Central/FUB naming Group (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary)
[edit]Like the Northern Group, the Free University of Berlin names storms based on low pressures across the continent and does not use a naming list. The storms listed below were strong enough or were anticipated to cause equal or more disruption than if it were named either by one of the other groups.
Season summary
[edit]
All storms named by European meteorological organisations in their respective forecasting areas, as well as Atlantic hurricanes that transitioned into European windstorms and retained the name assigned by the National Hurricane Center:
Storms
[edit]Storm Atena
[edit]| Storm Atena | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Area affected | Italy, Greece, Croatia, The Balkans |
| Date of impact | 8-11 September 2024 |
| Fatalities | Unspecified |
Storm Atena was named on 8 September 2024 by the Italian Servizio Meteorologico.[12]
The storm system tracked across the Mediterranean, bringing heavy rainfall to Italy, where an orange rain and thunderstorm warning was issued for the Puglia region, prompting the naming of the system.[13]
In Croatia a red rain and thunderstorm warning was issued for the Dubrovnik region where significant impacts from rain where expected.[13]
Storm Atena is expected to bring heavy rain, storms, strong winds, and hail to Greece from the night of 9 September to the afternoon of 11 September. It will affect most of the country, including the western, central, and northern parts of mainland Greece, as well as the northern and eastern Aegean islands.[14]
Storm Atena caused major traffic problems on the island of Rhodes after hitting on 11 September. The city centre, the Rhodes-Lindos road and the Analipsis area experienced severe flooding and heavy traffic. On 10 September, the storm also led to traffic accidents and power outages that disabled traffic lights. In addition, some people were trapped in elevators and required assistance from the fire department.[15]
Storm Boris
[edit]| Storm Boris | |
|---|---|
| Area affected | Italy, Croatia, The Balkans, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Greece, Poland |
| Date of impact | 11 September 2024-present |
| Fatalities | 7 |
Storm Boris was named on 11 September 2024 by the Italian Servizio Meteorologico.[12] It was also named Anett on the same day by Free University of Berlin.[16]
The storm system is expected to cause disruption with heavy rainfall and gusty winds, soon after Storm Atena, which came through a few days prior. As a result many weather warnings are in place.
In Italy there are currently yellow wind and rain warnings in force mainly concentrated around the north of the country, and a down the east coast. Orange wind warnings encompassing were raised in the metropolitan areas of Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice where disruption is expected.[17] The entirety of Croatia is under a orange wind and rain warning as well as most of Slovenia. Parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina also have yellow wind and thunderstorm warnings.[18]
Parts of the Czech Republic particularly near Vienna are under a red rain warning where extreme impacts from rainfall such as flooding, flash floods and landslides are likely. This is also the same for south-west Poland.[19]
On September 14, 2024, red alerts, indicating "intense meteorological phenomena", were issued in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.[1]
Seven people were killed as a result of the floods, five people drowned in Romania, a person drowned in Poland and a firefighter died in action in Austria.[1] Multiple people are currently missing in Romania and the Czech Republic.[20] Hundreds were stranded by floods in Romania.[1] Mandatory evacuations were ordered in several areas of the Czech Republic.[1] The town of Głuchołazy in Poland was evacuated along with 1600 people from Kłodzko County.[20] Over 260,000 households were affected by power outages in the Czech Republic.[21][22]
Season effects
[edit]| Storm | FUB name | Dates active | Highest wind gust | Lowest pressure | First reported by | Areas affected | Fatalities (+missing) | Damage | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atena | N/A | 8-11 September 2024 | Unspecified | 1,001 hPa (29.56 inHg) | Italy | Italy, Greece, Croatia, The Balkans | Unspecified | Moderate | |
| Boris | Anett | 11 September 2024-present | Unspecified | Unspecified | Italy | Italy, Croatia, The Balkans, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Greece, Poland | 7 | Moderate |
See also
[edit]- Weather of: 2024, 2025
- Tropical cyclones in: 2024, 2025
- 2024–25 North American winter
- 2024–25 Asian winter
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Miculita, Emmanuel; Tanno, Sophie; Gigova, Radina (2024-09-15). "At least 7 dead as heaviest rain in decades hits parts of central and eastern Europe". CNN. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
- ^ "Weather Warnings Explanation". Met Éireann The Irish Meteorological Service. Met Éireann. Archived from the original on 2023-02-19. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ^ a b "UK Storm Centre". Met Office. UK Met Office. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ^ "KNMI waarschuwingen" (in Dutch). KNMI. Archived from the original on 2023-02-17. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
- ^ Leitao, Paula; Roulet, Bernard; Rey, Jaime (September 2018). "Storm naming: the First Season of Naming by the South-west Group: Spain-Portugal-France" (PDF). The European Forecaster (Newsletter of the WGCEF) (23): 33–37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
- ^ Kotroni, V.; Lagouvardos, K.; Bezes, A.; Dafis, S.; Galanaki, E.; Giannaros, C.; Giannaros, T.; Karagiannidis, A.; Koletsis, I.; Kopania, T.; Papagiannaki, K.; Papavasileiou, G.; Vafeiadis, V.; Vougioulas, E. (2021). "Storm Naming in the Eastern Mediterranean: Procedures, Events Review and Impact on the Citizens Risk Perception and Readiness". Atmosphere. 12 (11): 1537. Bibcode:2021Atmos..12.1537K. doi:10.3390/atmos12111537.
- ^ "Storms in Denmark since 1891" (PDF). dmi.dk. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
- ^ "Naming the Weather: Institute of Meteorology at Freie Universität Assigns Names to Weather Highs and Lows for the Year Ahead: Starting 25 September 2013". Freie Universität Berlin Office of Communication and Marketing. Freie Universität Berlin. 2013-09-23. Archived from the original on 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
- ^ "Weather responders included in 2023/24 storm names". Met Office. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ "UK Storm Centre". Met Office.
- ^ https://www.aemet.es/es/conocermas/borrascas/2024-2025
- ^ a b c "Storm Naming, Denominazione delle tempeste | Meteo Aeronautica Militare". meteoam.it. 2024-09-01. Archived from the original on 2024-09-01.
- ^ a b "Meteoalarm".
- ^ "Storm 'Atena' will bring bad weather to Greece starting Monday night". TornosNews.gr. 2024-09-08.
- ^ "Atena storm floods Rhodes". ekathimerini.com. 2024-09-11.
- ^ "Institut für Meteorologie". Free University of Berlin.
- ^ "Meteoarlarm".
- ^ "Meteoarlarm".
- ^ "Meteoarlarm".
- ^ a b Cursino, Malu; Easton, Adam (2024-09-14). "'Catastrophe' as Central Europe deals with deadly floods". BBC. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
- ^ "Bez proudu bylo v ČR ráno 260.000 domácností, E.ON má kalamitní stav" [260,000 households were without power in the Czech Republic this morning, E.ON is in a state of calamity]. ČTK (in Czech). 2024-09-15.
- ^ Sharma, Shweta. "Five dead as Storm Boris brings flooding 'catastrophe' to central Europe". Retrieved 2024-09-15.
