It’s a dismal day here yet again, with grey skies and intermittent rain.
The water gathers in big puddles at the side of the road. If you’re walking along the pavements, you have to be aware of the traffic, otherwise you’ll end up soaked.
There is a particular spot where the road narrows at a pinch point, which is intended to slow down the traffic. If you don’t walk past it pretty sharpish, you can be guaranteed a car will come zooming by and splash you to smithereens.
In the mornings and evenings, many of the motorists on their way to and from work – and also, surprisingly, school – tend to ignore the 20mph speed limit and belt by at 30 and 4omph.
It’s a terrible advert for some of the builders, plumbers and electricians who shoot by in their liveried vans. Still, they obviously have plenty of work on and don’t need business from village folk.
Anyway, enough complaining. It’s World Book Day on Thursday, 7 March and I’m looking forward to my morning walk coinciding with the children all dressed up as book characters and making their way to school.
A few years ago I encountered Roald Dahl’s Mr Twit followed closely down the road by Dr Seuss’s Cat in the Hat.
I wonder what lies in store for us this coming Thursday?
The male/female names were indeed a thing, but not any more. (And to digress, when did the words any more become anymore? I must have missed that memo.)
The US began naming storms in the 1950s.
Here in the UK, it’s a much more recent phenomenon.
According to the BBC, ‘in the UK, the Met Office names any storm when it has the potential to cause disruption or damage.
‘It believes that it is easier to follow the progress of a storm on TV, radio, or social media if it has a name.’
So how are storms named?
Over to the BBC article again:
‘The UK Met Office and Irish service Met Éireann launched their first Name our Storms campaign in 2015.
‘Most years, they draw the names from a shortlist of favourites submitted by the public. Since 2019, they have been joined by the national weather service of the Netherlands, which also chips in a few suggested names each year.
‘In previous years, storms have alternated between male and female names.
‘However, for the 2023-24 season, the Met Office has altered this, naming a number of storms after prominent scientists, meteorologists and others “who work to keep people safe in times of severe weather”.’
We might not get through the whole alphabet and the letters Q, U and Z don’t get a look in. But over the coming months, you may hear some names which aren’t on the British/Irish/Dutch list.
Explains the BBC: ‘That is because storms are named where they originate. Storms that reach the UK are occasionally the tail end of one that started in the US several days earlier – and may have been downgraded from hurricane or cyclone status.’
Maddie Grigg 
