Storm Ciarán is set to hit the UK soon and is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain.

South Wales and southern England are set to see the worst of the effects, with plenty of amber and yellow weather warnings in place in those areas.

Other parts of the UK will experience heavy rainfall before Ciarán arrives on Thursday (November 2).

Coming just two weeks after Storm Babet it is recognised as the third storm of the 12-month season, which starts in early September.

It might cause some people to question why the Storm was named Ciarán, and why storms are named the way they are.

Who named Storm Ciaran?

Storms as a whole are named so people can more easily engage with weather forecasts, with the practice being established in the 1950s.

In 2015, following the success of the US model, the UK Met Office and Irish service Met Éireann launched their first "Name our Storms" campaign, BBC News reports.

Most years, they draw the names from a shortlist of favourites submitted by the public.

Additionally, they have been joined by the National Weather Service of the Netherlands who contribute a few names each year.

As part of the 2023/24 weather season, the Met Office has named a number of storms after prominent scientists, meteorologists and other people involved in the weather.

In the past, storms have alternated between male and female names but that has altered this year in order to honour the right people.

What do different Met Office weather warnings mean?

For this upcoming event, Storm Ciarán is named after Ciarán Fearon, a civil servant who works in the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

His job is to ensure key information is shared on river levels and coastal flooding.

An almost full alphabet of names is put forward each year, except for ones beginning with Q, U, X, Y and Z. The storms for 2023 are:

  • Agnes
  • Babet
  • Ciarán
  • Debi
  • Elin
  • Fergus
  • Gerrit
  • Henk
  • Isha
  • Jocelyn
  • Kathleen
  • Lilian
  • Minnie
  • Nicholas
  • Olga
  • Piet
  • Regina
  • Stuart
  • Tamiko
  • Vincent
  • Walid

Only around six to seven storms impact the UK during a season, so there are many names that won't be used for it.

How to pronounce Ciarán?

Ciarán is an Irish name and is pronounced as 'keer-awn'.