2017–18 European windstorm season

It was subsequently marked by many high-impact storms which caused severe loss of life and widespread damage, including Ophelia, Eleanor, David and Emma.

[clarification needed] They will be taken from the list, in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female names—the same naming convention that is used by the United States for tropical cyclones.

It describes the wind strength relative to observations such as "falling trees or tiles, other items like garden furniture being blown around and even a number of properties left without electrical power.

[7] Participants can ask the FUB to give their names, for example as a birthday present, to high or low pressure systems that affect European weather.

The impact of the deadly winter storm Emma was intensified by the collision with the Beast from the East cold wave (anticyclone Hartmut).

[24] Met Éireann issued an update on 12 October in response to media coverage about possible impacts which might occur in Ireland, highlighting the uncertainties still in the forecast modelling.

[30] The Met Office updated its amber warnings to include parts of west Wales, southwest Scotland and the Isle of Man on the morning of 16 October.

The NHC continued monitoring the system as it moved slowly north-west, bringing heavy rainfall and flooding to Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands before turning to the north-east.

[38] However, on 16 October, the NHC discontinued monitoring the system as it passed Bermuda without any considerable impact, having failed to transition into a tropical cyclone.

[citation needed] Subsequently, the area of low pressure began to rapidly intensify as it accelerated eastward across the open Atlantic, developing into a powerful extratropical cyclone.

Met Éireann issued a yellow warning for wind to the counties of Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Kerry.

Ultimately, Storm Bruno brought over 25 cm (9.8 in) of snow, wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h (62 mph; 54 kn), and waves as high as 8 m (26 ft) to Spain.

[73] On 16 January Met Éireann issued orange marine weather warnings for wind to storm force from Roches Point to Slyne Head to Malin Head,[78] along with orange national weather warnings for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork and Kerry for 16–17 January, so naming storm Fionn.

[79][80] This system, also called Evi by the FUB, was meteorologically speaking a very deep and large Icelandic low that bottomed out at a central pressure of 935 hPa (27.6 inHg) and dominated the weather in the North Atlantic and Northern Europe for several days in the middle of January 2018.

This low had a large and intense wind field on its southern flank, fuelling a strong jetstream that steered the less deep but much more catastrophic Cyclone David into the UK and Ireland and Central Europe on 18 January.

[83] Met Éireann's decision to name Fionn was met with some criticism from some meteorologists, Liam Dutton tweeted that he thought the warning did not strictly accompany a cyclonic area of low pressure, but a "squeeze of isobars" circulating a low hundreds of kilometres (miles) distant in the region of the Faroes, stating that it "needed no more than a standard weather warning".

[84] She reiterated that the orange warning issued by Met Éireann fulfilled their criteria for naming the storm, producing severe winds, coastal flooding and high waves on the Irish coast, even if the centre of circulation was distant.

This storm, which proved to have catastrophic effects, originated from a low pressure trough in the Western Atlantic that stretched from the Southern Caribbean to Newfoundland on 14 January — 16.

[103] After gaining a closed circulation near or over Newfoundland on 16 January, the new cyclone entered the very strong southern wind field of the Icelandic Low Fionn, crossing the Atlantic in less than two days and being steered into Europe.

Between 14 and 19 January, the binary storm complex that consisted of Fionn and David brought high winds and snowfall to large portions of Europe.

Winds gusted close to 115 mph across the tops of the Scottish mountains and here there were very challenging conditions with snow at high levels adding to already very significant accumulations for the winter so far.

The cyclone affected Iberia, Great Britain and Ireland on its track, causing high winds and snowfall, leading to blizzard conditions.

Starting on 1 March 2018, the collision of Emma and Hartmut triggered numerous hurricane-force gusts in southern Europe and the United Kingdom.

[111] On 1 March 2018, UK authorities issued a red warning in Wales and south-west England as citizens in Scotland spent up to 20 hours in their cars stuck in traffic in frigid weather and a 46-year-old Southampton man died in a motor vehicle accident on the A34.

Many schools remained closed in Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford on Monday 5 March as local authorities continued to attempt to clear roads.

Storm Gisele was named by the Spanish AEMET agency on 14 March, as the system was undergoing rapid intensification in the central Atlantic.

Gisele then made landfall in mainland Portugal, with mesovortices within an unstable cold front bringing isolated gusts of up to 110 km/h (68 mph; 59 kn) and at least one confirmed tornado.

Moving swiftly northwards, Irene intensified into an unusually strong low for the region at this time of year, crossing the Azores archipelago with a minimum pressure of 952 hPa (28.1 inHg) and winds of up to 110 km/h (68 mph; 59 kn).

Herwart then went through the Fujiwhara effect with this system, rotating counterclockwise around the main low pressure area, passing over Norway, Sweden, Latvia and then losing power while moving over western Russia.

[136] Cyclone Reinhard (also known locally as Storm Ylva) made landfall in Norway on 23 November, with high winds and heavy rainfall causing millions of euros' worth of damage.