Earth · Physics

How European Windstorms Work

Where Cold Air Meets Warm

Between 23 and 25 October 2026, Storms Austen and Boelo swept across Britain, France, the Low Countries, Germany and Scandinavia, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes and grounding flights. This film explains how such windstorms are made: cold polar air meeting warm tropical air over the Atlantic, the jet stream that pulls air out of a low, the Earth's spin that turns inflowing air into a spiral, warm and cold fronts, why closely packed isobars mean strong wind, weather bombs and sting jets, the Great Storm of 1987, how these storms differ from hurricanes, and why European weather services now give them names.

Interactive 3D film9 min1987 to 2026Published 26 October 2026

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Prologue

Earth · Physics

How European windstorms work

Where cold air meets warm, and the sky pulls the air away.

Gusts of a hundred and thirty-five kilometres an hour in western Scotland. More than a hundred and fifty thousand homes without power. Hundreds of flights cancelled.

Between the twenty-third and twenty-fifth of October 2026, two named storms, Austen and Boelo, crossed northern Europe one after the other.

These storms are not hurricanes. So what builds them?

Britain	~82,000
France	~60,000
Germany	10,000+

Homes without power Top gust: 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland (Euronews).

Austen: named 20 Oct; southern England, Fri 23 Oct
Boelo: named 22 Oct; Scotland and N. Ireland, Sun 25 Oct

Two storms in three days

Cold air, warm air and the jet stream
How a low spins up
Fronts, weather bombs and sting jets
Why storms get names

In this film

Prologue

Austen and Boelo

Euronews: Storm Austen struck southern England on Friday 23 October 2026 and moved across northern continental Europe; Storm Boelo brought disruption to Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England on Sunday 25 October. Gusts reached 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute. More than 150,000 homes temporarily lost power: about 82,000 in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted, ferries were cancelled from Scotland to Denmark, and four people were hurt by falling trees in Brussels. Met Office: Austen was named on 20 October and Boelo on 22 October. ITV: two storms so close together are usually expected between November and March.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Euronews (25 Oct 2026): storms batter northern Europe, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes; Met Office: UK Storm Centre; ITV News (20 Oct 2026): forecasters warn two storms could hit the UK in 48 hours

Chapter I · Two kinds of air

Chapter I

Two kinds of air

A storm begins at a boundary.

Over the North Atlantic, two kinds of air meet: cold air from the polar regions to the north, and warm, moist air from the tropics to the south.

Warm air is less dense, so where the two meet it rises over the cold air. Europe's storms are born along this boundary.

The stronger the contrast between the two, the more likely a storm is to develop fast.

**A spiral over the ocean** A low-pressure system west of Ireland, seen from orbit. AI-generated still.

Polar: cold and dense, from the north
Tropical: warm and moist, from the south

Two air masses

A strong temperature contrast
A vigorous jet stream above
Autumn and winter over the North Atlantic

Ingredients for a fast storm

Chapter I · Two kinds of air

Where the air masses meet

MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): a depression forms where a warm air mass from the tropics meets a cooler air mass from polar regions; depressions affecting the UK usually start over the Atlantic Ocean. The warm air, being less dense, rises over the colder air. Met Office: rapid development is most likely when strong temperature contrasts combine with a vigorous jet stream.

On screen: blue is cold polar air, orange is warm tropical air. The boundary is drawn smooth; in reality it waves and breaks.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems; Met Office (2026): weather bombs, what causes explosive cyclogenesis

The temperature difference between the tropics and the pole drives a river of fast wind high above: the jet stream, roughly eight to eleven kilometres up, blowing from west to east.

Its core can exceed three hundred kilometres an hour. In winter the contrast is greater, so the jet is stronger, and it often lies right over Britain.

In summer it weakens and usually moves north. That is one reason autumn and winter bring the strongest storms. Switch between the seasons.

**Cirrus streaks** High cloud racing in parallel lines. AI-generated still.

5–7 miles: up, about 8–11 km, just below the tropopause
200+ mph: top speed, over 320 km/h

The jet stream

Winter: bigger contrast, stronger jet, often over the UK
Summer: smaller contrast, weaker jet, further north

Winter and summer

Chapter I · Two kinds of air

A river of wind

Met Office: the jet stream sits about 5 to 7 miles up, just below the tropopause, and can exceed 200 mph, running from west to east. It exists because of the temperature difference between the equator and the poles, which creates a pressure gradient that drives the high-altitude winds; the Earth’s rotation helps set its west-to-east flow. It is stronger in winter, when the contrast is greater, and often sits over the UK, bringing wetter, windier weather; in summer it weakens and typically moves north.

Try it: “Winter” and “Summer” move the jet and change its strength. The positions are typical, not a forecast.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office (2025): what is the jet stream and how does it affect our weather?

Chapter II · Birth of a low

Chapter II

Birth of a low

Take air away from the top, and the pressure falls.

Air pressure at the ground is the weight of all the air above it. Where the jet stream passes over a developing storm, it draws air off the top.

With less air above, the pressure at the surface falls. Air rushes in along the ground to fill the gap, and rises in the middle, where it cools into cloud and rain.

That is a depression, or low. Turn the jet stream off, and the low stops deepening.

p \approx 1013\ \text{hPa} \;\approx\; 10\ \text{tonnes per m}^2

$p$: average air pressure at sea level
$\text{hPa}$: hectopascal, the same as a millibar

Pressure is weight

**A band of rain** Rising air cools and its water condenses into cloud and rain. AI-generated still.

Jet stream removes air aloft
Surface pressure falls
Air flows in low down and rises

How a low deepens

Chapter II · Birth of a low

Air pulled away from the top

Met Office, jet stream: where the jet stream passes over a low, it draws air off the top of the system, which lowers the pressure further and intensifies the low. Met Office, weather bombs: air is drawn in and begins to rotate, and winds strengthen as the system tightens. University of Reading: as a storm intensifies, pressure falls at its centre and air rises and rotates around it, producing heavy rain and strong winds. This is simplified: the jet removes air from a low only where the upper winds spread apart, in particular parts of the jet. Average sea-level pressure of about 1013 hPa corresponds to the weight of roughly ten tonnes of air on each square metre.

Try it: with the jet on, the readout shows the central pressure falling; with it off, the low fills in slowly. The rates are illustrative.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office (2025): what is the jet stream and how does it affect our weather?; Met Office (2026): weather bombs, what causes explosive cyclogenesis; University of Reading (21 Oct 2026): Storm Austen, expert explains forecast

If the Earth did not spin, air would flow straight into the low and fill it in. But the Earth's rotation deflects moving air to the right in the northern hemisphere: the Coriolis effect.

So instead of filling the low, the air spirals around it, anticlockwise, almost along the lines of equal pressure, called isobars. Turn the Earth's spin off and on to see the difference.

Sailors learned a rule for it: stand with your back to the wind, and the low pressure is on your left.

Right: moving air is deflected, northern hemisphere
Left: southern hemisphere

The Coriolis effect

Pressure pulls air inward
The Coriolis effect bends it to the right
Result: an anticlockwise spiral along the isobars

Around a low, northern hemisphere

Stand with your back to the wind, and lower pressure lies on your left.Buys Ballot’s law, northern hemisphere

Chapter II · Birth of a low

Why the wind goes round

MetLink, the Coriolis effect: air moving from high to low pressure is deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere by the Earth’s rotation. The pressure gradient pulls air inward and the Coriolis effect bends it, so that around a low the two balance and the wind tends to blow along the pressure contours: anticlockwise around lows and clockwise around highs in the northern hemisphere. Buys Ballot’s law: stand with your back to the wind and lower pressure lies on your left. MetLink, weather systems: on charts a depression appears as closely spaced, roughly circular isobars.

Try it: “Spin off” shows air flowing straight in; “Spin on” shows the real spiral. Near the ground, friction lets the air cross the isobars slightly inward.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): in depth, the Coriolis effect; MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems

As the low spins, it drags the boundary into a wave. Ahead of it, a warm front: warm air slides up over cold air, bringing long, steady rain as the pressure falls.

Behind it, a cold front: dense cold air pushes under the warm air like a wedge, with a short burst of very heavy rain, sometimes thunder, and then rising pressure.

Between them lies a wedge of warm air, the warm sector.

Warm air rises over cold
Long, steady, often heavy rain
Pressure falls as it approaches

Warm front · red half-circles

**A cold front arrives** A wall of shower clouds over the sea. AI-generated still.

Cold air pushes under warm
Brief, very heavy rain, sometimes thunder
Pressure rises after it passes

Cold front · blue triangles

20–30 mph: warm front
40–50 mph: cold front, so it catches up

Typical speeds

Chapter II · Birth of a low

Fronts

MetLink, weather systems: at a warm front, warm air rises over cold air because it is less dense; rain is often prolonged and heavy, and pressure falls steadily ahead of and during its passage. At a cold front, cold air pushes under warmer air because it is denser; its passage is brief, with very heavy rain and sometimes thunderstorms, and pressure rises. Between the fronts lies the warm sector. The cold front travels faster, about 40–50 mph against 20–30 mph for the warm front.

On screen: red half-circles mark the warm front and blue triangles the cold front, as on a weather chart; the symbols point the way the front is moving.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems

Because the cold front moves faster, it catches up with the warm front and lifts the warm air off the ground. Forecasters call this an occlusion.

Once all the warm air has been lifted, the storm runs out of contrast and dies, usually over Europe or Scandinavia.

Cold catches warm: warm air is lifted off the surface

Occluded front · purple

Birth a wave on the boundary, over the Atlantic
Maturity warm and cold fronts, often over the UK
Occlusion the cold front catches the warm front
Death over Europe or Scandinavia

A low’s life

Chapter II · Birth of a low

How a low dies

MetLink, weather systems: the cold front travels faster than the warm front and catches up with it, lifting the warm air off the surface to form an occlusion. The mature stage often occurs over the UK; the depression dies once all the warm air has been lifted and temperatures are similar on both sides, usually over Europe or Scandinavia.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems

Chapter III · Wind

Chapter III

Wind

The tighter the isobars, the stronger the wind.

On a weather chart, a deep low looks like tightly packed rings. The closer the isobars, the steeper the pressure slope, and the stronger the wind.

Deepen the low and watch the readout.

Forecasters grade the average wind on the Beaufort scale: force eight is a gale, force ten a storm, and force twelve, a hundred and eighteen kilometres an hour or more, is hurricane force. Gusts, like this weekend's hundred and thirty-five, are brief bursts above the average.

And the push of the wind grows with its speed squared: double the speed, and the force on a roof or a tree is four times as large.

Close isobars: steep pressure slope, strong wind
Wide isobars: gentle slope, light wind

Reading a chart

Force 8 · gale	63–75
Force 10 · storm	88–103
Force 12 · hurricane force	≥118

Beaufort scale, the top end The scale grades the average wind; gusts, like this weekend’s 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute, run well above it.

Average: what the Beaufort scale grades
Gust: a brief burst above it, like 135 km/h this weekend

Average wind and gusts

q = \tfrac{1}{2}\,\rho\,v^{2}

$q$: the push of moving air on each square metre
$\rho$: air density, about 1.2 kg per cubic metre
$v$: wind speed

Dynamic pressure

**What force does** Old oaks uprooted in a town park after a storm. AI-generated still.

Chapter III · Wind

Isobars, Beaufort and the push of the wind

MetLink: a depression has lower pressure than its surroundings, shown on charts as closely spaced, roughly circular isobars, which bring strong winds. Hong Kong Observatory, Beaufort scale (mean wind speed): force 8 (gale) is 63–75 km/h, force 10 (storm) 88–103 km/h, force 12 (hurricane) 118 km/h or more. NASA Glenn Research Center: dynamic pressure is q = ½ρu², a pressure term associated with the velocity of the flow; aerodynamic forces scale with it, so doubling the speed quadruples the force.

Try it: “Deeper” and “Shallower” change the central pressure. The wind in the readout is a balanced-flow estimate from the spacing of the isobars, a simplified model; real surface winds are slowed by friction and gusts are stronger.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems; Hong Kong Observatory: Beaufort wind scale; NASA Glenn Research Center: dynamic pressure

Sometimes a low deepens very fast. If its central pressure falls by at least twenty-four millibars in twenty-four hours, forecasters call it explosive cyclogenesis, or informally, a weather bomb.

As the air is drawn in tighter, it spins faster, like a skater pulling in their arms. Strong temperature contrast and a vigorous jet stream make it most likely.

These fast developers are most common over the North Atlantic in autumn and winter.

≥ 24 mb: pressure drop at the centre
≤ 24 h: in one day

A weather bomb

Start	1004
24 hours later	974

Storm Doris, central pressure A 30-millibar fall in a day, past the 24-millibar mark (Met Office).

**A deepening storm** A tight swirl with a hooked cloud head. AI-generated still.

Autumn · winter: the season for explosive lows
N. Atlantic: where they are most common

When and where

Chapter III · Wind

Weather bombs

Met Office: “weather bomb” is an unofficial term for a low whose central pressure drops at least 24 millibars within 24 hours; the Met Office prefers “explosive cyclogenesis”. A powerful jet stream removes air from above the developing low, air is drawn in and rotates, and winds strengthen as the system tightens, like a skater spinning faster after pulling in their arms. It is most likely when strong temperature contrasts combine with a vigorous jet stream, and most common over the North Atlantic in autumn and winter. Storm Doris fell from about 1004 to 974 millibars within 24 hours.

On screen: the clock runs through one day while the central pressure falls by 30 millibars, as Storm Doris did; the shrinking rings are schematic.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office (2026): weather bombs, what causes explosive cyclogenesis

The most violent winds in some storms come from a sting jet: a narrow core of air that descends from three or four kilometres up toward the ground.

Rain and snow falling into dry air evaporate and chill it. The colder, denser air sinks faster and faster, and can bring gusts of over a hundred miles an hour.

It is only about thirty miles wide and lasts three or four hours, which makes it hard to forecast.

Scientists at the University of Reading identified it years later, by re-analysing a famous storm from 1987.

Forms in rapidly deepening lows
Descends from 3–4 km up
Named after the hook of cloud, like a scorpion’s sting

A sting jet

100+ mph: winds, over 160 km/h
~30 miles: wide, about 50 km
3–4 h: how long it lasts

Sting jet

Models can now show cores of very strong wind
Satellites show the hooked cloud head
Water-vapour images show dark, dry streaks

How forecasters spot one

1987: the Great Storm
years later: Keith Browning’s team at Reading names the sting jet

Found by looking back

Chapter III · Wind

The sting in the tail

Met Office, sting jet: a core of very strong winds that can form in rapidly deepening lows and extend toward the ground, often reaching 100 mph or more. It forms within the cold conveyor belt that wraps around the low, starts about 3–4 km above the ground and descends over 3–4 hours; it is often about 30 miles across and lasts only 3–4 hours. Snow and rain falling into the air evaporate and cool it, so the denser air sinks faster. The name comes from the hook-shaped cloud at the end of the cold conveyor, like a scorpion’s sting. Wikipedia, Great storm of 1987: after that storm, University of Reading meteorologists led by Keith Browning identified the sting jet.

On screen: the red streak is a schematic sting jet descending on the south side of the low.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office: what is a sting jet?; Wikipedia: Great storm of 1987

Chapter IV · The Great Storm

Chapter IV

The Great Storm

One October night in 1987.

On the fifteenth of October 1987, a low formed over the Bay of Biscay and deepened as it raced north-east across the English Channel, to a central pressure of nine hundred and fifty-three millibars.

In the early hours, gusts reached a hundred and seventeen knots in Normandy and a hundred knots at Shoreham on the Sussex coast. About fifteen million trees came down, and eighteen people died in England.

Forecasters had warned of severe weather days before, but later computer runs sent the worst of it south of England. Afterwards the Met Office added observations over the ocean and improved its models.

It was not officially a hurricane, because it did not form in the tropics. Its worst winds were later linked to a sting jet.

15 Oct, noon 970 mb over the Bay of Biscay
15 Oct, 6 pm 964 mb
around midnight 953 mb, western English Channel
16 Oct, 5:30 am 959 mb, Humber estuary

The night of 15–16 October 1987

Pointe du Roc, Normandy	117
Shoreham, Sussex	100
Gatwick Airport	86

Top gusts, 1987 100 knots is about 185 km/h.

~15 million: trees blown down
18: deaths in England (Met Office)
£2 bn: cost to UK insurers

The damage

**After 1987** A modern forecasting room. AI-generated still.

Chapter IV · The Great Storm

The Great Storm of 1987

Met Office case study: a depression developed over the Bay of Biscay on 15 October 1987 and deepened as it moved north-east across the English Channel, from 970 mb at midday to 964 mb by 6 pm and 953 mb around midnight, reaching the Humber estuary at 959 mb around 5:30 am on 16 October. The highest measured gust was 117 knots at Pointe du Roc near Granville, Normandy; the strongest in the UK was 100 knots at Shoreham, Sussex, and 86 knots at Gatwick. About 15 million trees were blown down and 18 people were killed. It was not officially a hurricane because it did not form in the tropics. Forecasters had warned of severe weather four or five days ahead, but later model runs suggested the worst would pass south of England. Afterwards the Met Office increased observations over the ocean and refined its models. Wikipedia: at least 22 people died in England and France; UK insured losses were £2 billion; Reading meteorologists later identified the sting jet in the storm.

On screen: the low follows the track and pressures given by the Met Office; its size and rings are schematic.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office: the Great Storm of 1987 (case study); Wikipedia: Great storm of 1987

A hurricane and a European windstorm can bring similar winds, but they run on different fuel.

A hurricane, the kind of storm Thailand knows as a typhoon, draws its energy from a warm ocean, has no fronts, and is often compact, with its strongest winds around the eye.

A windstorm draws its energy from the clash of air masses along its fronts, and is usually much larger. Switch between the two.

Some storms are hybrids, with features of both kinds.

Energy from a warm sea
No fronts
Often small, winds peak at the eyewall

Tropical cyclone

Energy from air-mass contrasts
Warm, cold and occluded fronts
Usually larger

Extratropical cyclone

Hybrids: some storms show features of both kinds

In between

Chapter IV · The Great Storm

Two kinds of cyclone

NOAA National Data Buoy Center: a tropical cyclone (hurricane or tropical storm) draws its energy from the sea, shows no fronts and is often small, with sharp wind peaks at the eyewall on either side of a calm eye; an extratropical cyclone (winter storm or low) draws its energy from frontal boundaries and from differences in wind speed and direction in the atmosphere, has warm and cold fronts, and is larger. Some hybrid systems show both sets of traits. Met Office: the Great Storm of 1987 was not officially a hurricane because it did not form in the tropics.

Try it: switch between a schematic tropical cyclone and a frontal windstorm at the same map scale.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: NOAA National Data Buoy Center: tropical and extratropical storms; Met Office: the Great Storm of 1987 (case study)

Chapter V · Naming storms

Chapter V

Naming storms

A name people will remember and act on.

Since 2015, Britain's Met Office has given names to storms. Today it shares one list with Ireland's Met Éireann and the Dutch weather service, KNMI, and any of the three can name the next storm.

A storm gets a name when it could cause enough disruption or damage for an amber or red warning. One clear name helps people take a warning seriously.

A new list is published every September. The names run in alphabetical order, and Q, U, X, Y and Z are never used.

UK: Met Office
Ireland: Met Éireann
Netherlands: KNMI

The western naming group

**Why a warning matters** A fallen tree across a railway line in a storm. AI-generated still.

Potential for an amber or red warning
Judged on impact and likelihood
Usually for wind; rain and snow count too

When a storm is named (UK)

Austen · named 20 Oct 2026
Boelo · named 22 Oct 2026
Chloe · Dano · Evelyn …
21 names in all

The 2026/27 list begins

Chapter V · Naming storms

How storms are named

Met Office, UK Storm Centre: the Name our Storms project launched in 2015; a new list is issued each September. The UK, Ireland and the Netherlands form the western storm naming group: the Met Office, Met Éireann and KNMI compile the list together, and any of the three can name a storm with the next name. A storm is named when it has the potential to cause disruption or damage that could lead to an amber or red warning, judged on impact and likelihood; naming is usually for wind, but rain and snow can count. A single naming system gives consistent messages, so the public can better protect themselves. The 2026/27 list has 21 names: Austen, Boelo, Chloe, Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn, Heather, Ivy, Jade, Kilian, Laoise, Miriam, Nicola, Olaf, Phelim, Ruban, Shaun, Theo, Vesna and Wende. Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used, to match the US National Hurricane Center’s conventions.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: Met Office: UK Storm Centre; ITV News (20 Oct 2026): forecasters warn two storms could hit the UK in 48 hours

Austen struck southern England on Friday the twenty-third, after warnings of gusts of seventy miles an hour on exposed coasts, then crossed to the continent. Scaffolding blew over at a market in Germany, and trees fell in Brussels.

On Sunday, Boelo hit Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. Ferries stopped from Scotland to Denmark, and some Swedish rail lines were suspended.

Two named storms this close together usually come between November and March. This pair came early.

70+ mph: gusts on exposed coasts of SW England and S Wales
Yellow: wind warning, issued three days ahead

Storm Austen, forecast

**Grounded** Jets wait at the gates as rain sweeps the apron. AI-generated still.

**Scotland, Sunday** A car edges through a flooded harbour street. AI-generated still.

Nov–Mar: usual season for storms this close together
12: named storms in the 2023/24 season

An early start

Chapter V · Naming storms

This weekend

University of Reading (21 October): Austen was the first named storm of the 2026/27 season; the Met Office issued a yellow wind warning three days ahead for south-west England and south Wales, with gusts of 70 mph or more possible on exposed coasts. Euronews: Austen struck southern England on 23 October and then crossed northern continental Europe; two people were seriously hurt when scaffolding blew over at an autumn market in Nastätten, Germany, and four were hurt by falling trees in Brussels. Boelo hit Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England on 25 October; ferries were cancelled from Scotland to Denmark and some Swedish rail lines were suspended. ITV: storms this close together are usually expected between November and March; the 2023/24 season had twelve named storms.

On screen: the two lows follow the regions named in the reports; their tracks are schematic.

The map is a teaching model: coastlines come from Natural Earth, but the low, its isobars, fronts, jet stream and the moving air are drawn from a simplified model, not from a forecast.

Sources: University of Reading (21 Oct 2026): Storm Austen, expert explains forecast; Euronews (25 Oct 2026): storms batter northern Europe, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes; ITV News (20 Oct 2026): forecasters warn two storms could hit the UK in 48 hours

Epilogue

Every windstorm follows the same recipe: cold air meeting warm, a jet stream pulling air away from the top, and the spin of the Earth turning the rush of air into a spiral.

Forecasts are far better than in 1987. But where exactly a sting jet will strike, a few hours ahead, is still one of the hardest questions in weather.

So when the next storm on the list gets its name, you will know what is turning above you.

Cold polar air meets warm tropical air
The jet stream removes air aloft
The Coriolis effect makes a spiral
Tight isobars mean strong wind

The recipe for a windstorm

1987 The Great Storm; the sting jet is later identified
2015 UK and Ireland begin naming storms
2026 Austen and Boelo open the season

Milestones

Chloe
Dano
Evelyn

Next on the 2026/27 list

Epilogue · Sources

Sources

Every fact in this film comes from the sources below. The chapter stills and pictures are AI-generated illustrations. The map uses Natural Earth coastlines; the lows, isobars, fronts, jet stream, sting jet and moving air are a simplified model, not a forecast, and the wind speeds in the interactive readouts are estimates from that model.

Sources: Euronews (25 Oct 2026): storms batter northern Europe, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes; ITV News (20 Oct 2026): forecasters warn two storms could hit the UK in 48 hours; University of Reading (21 Oct 2026): Storm Austen, expert explains forecast; Met Office: UK Storm Centre; MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): weather systems; Met Office (2025): what is the jet stream and how does it affect our weather?; MetLink (Royal Meteorological Society): in depth, the Coriolis effect; Hong Kong Observatory: Beaufort wind scale; NASA Glenn Research Center: dynamic pressure; Met Office (2026): weather bombs, what causes explosive cyclogenesis; Met Office: what is a sting jet?; Met Office: the Great Storm of 1987 (case study); Wikipedia: Great storm of 1987; NOAA National Data Buoy Center: tropical and extratropical storms