Much of the UK has felt the effects of Storm Dudley so far this week, and we are now bracing ourselves for the arrival of Storm Eunice.
After it was reported earlier this week that Greater Manchester and widespread parts of the country were to be hit by two storms within three days, which would bring strong winds, heavy rain showers, and even some snow and ‘blizzard conditions’, Storm Dudley arrived on Tuesday night into Wednesday, and left thousands of homes without power, and also caused travel chaos on roads and train lines.
Yellow weather alerts with an amber warnings were put in place by the Met Office and now, people are being warned to prepare for even worse weather as Storm Eunice moves in and threatens “significant disruption” for much of the UK.
Storm Eunice is coming with a ‘danger to life’ warning, and people are being advised to stay indoors and avoid all unnecessary travel.
As well as the amber alert in place covering all of the north, and widespread parts of England for tomorrow, unfortunately, there’s also warnings of further power outages and disruption to transport services as well.
#StormEunice will bring extremely strong #winds to much of the UK on #Friday, with dangerous conditions around the coasts 🌬️
Heavy #snow and blizzards will also affect some northern areas ❄️⚠️
But aside from all of the doom and gloom, every time a new storm comes around, there’s one question that’s always on the UK’s lips – what the heck are those names?
From Barney, Christoph, and Barra, to Arwen, Malik, and most-recently, Corrie, storm names always seem to grab the headlines, and not just for the dreadful weather conditions that they bring, but also because it leaves people wondering what the names are all about, who came up with them, and what are the next names we can expect.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Why do storms get named?
Since ‘Name our Storms’ first launched in 2015, the Met Office has issued a new list of names each September, and the list runs from early September to late August the following year, which coincides with the start of autumn when the likelihood of low pressure systems and the potential for named storms increase.
According to the Met Office, the naming of storms using a single authoritative system aids the communication of approaching severe weather through media partners and other government agencies.
In other words, they’re easier to remember and thus remind people to stay safe.
Heavy rain hits Exchange Square in Manchester city centre / Credit: Instagram (@mariapage)
How are the names chosen, and when do storms get announced?
The Met Office collaborates with Met Éireann and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to name storms, and choose the current list by asking the public to send in suggestions, of which they usually receive thousands of every year.
Chosen names are meant to be “popular names and names that reflect the diversity of Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands”.
The list of storm names run from early September to late August the following year.
What are the next storms called?
Even though much of the UK is still reeling from Storm Dudley and is currently preparing for Storm Eunice to hit, what other storm names have been announced by the Met Office for the rest of 2022?
Here’s the full list of names chosen by the Met Office for 2021/22:
Today we announced the new list of storm names for 2021-22 in partnership with @MetEireann and @KNMI
New ‘postboxes of the future’ are being rolled out across the UK
Danny Jones
The Royal Mail is starting to roll out its line of so-called “postboxes of the future” across the UK this year, including right here in Greater Manchester.
It has been dubbed the most important and noticeable transformation to the classic British postbox in its entire 175-year history.
The national postal service teased the modern-day upgrade earlier this year, but the revolutionary new upgrade was officially announced this week, with Royal Mail ushering in a new era of digitally-driven units that should make many lives a lot easier – at least in theory.
Although they might look pretty identical to the iconic red boxes since before the turn of the 19th century have used up and down the country, there are marked differences between the new and the old ones.
Credit: Royal Mail
The biggest change made to the Royal Mail’s soon-to-be standard design is a digitally activated drop-down drawer, which will be able to fit parcels as big as a shoebox, hopefully saving us Brits on a fair few trips to the post office.
You will be able to scan a barcode via the updated Royal Mail app to activate the drawer for larger items; meanwhile, there will be a separate slot for letters and smaller packages.
Additionally, the new range of high-tech postboxes will also be solar-powered, helping the public limited company chase its ‘green’ targets.
Now owned by parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) – who also oversee Parcelforce Worldwide – following the UK government’s approval of its historic sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský at the end of 2024, the group as a whole is undergoing a significant overhaul.
Britain’s new solar postboxes were first trialled back in April in four towns located throughout the Hertfordshire region: Letchworth Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was later installed in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, too.
Despite being quickly considered a success on the whole, the initial design featured an entirely black top, with polls of civilians and Royal Mail themselves agreeing that keeping them red all over was more in keeping with the brand.
It’s like the old school phone box, isn’t it? We can’t picture it any other way.
📮Attention Postbox Lovers 📮
Royal Mail is upgrading postboxes to accept parcels. They'll gaining a new slot and a solar panel on top
Speaking in a statement, the Royal Mail‘s managing director of ‘out-of-home and commercial excellence’, Jack Clarkson, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.
“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.
“Our message is clear – if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”
The new generation postboxes are now being made permanent in the same locations, with Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester next.
Keep your eyes peeled on the streets as they’ll soon be making a debut in your area.
Rugby Football League to merge second and third divisions from next year
Danny Jones
The Rugby Football League (RFL) has officially announced that it will be combining the Championship and League One divisions next year as part of a larger restructuring.
Besides the push for phasing out automatic promotion and relegation with the top flight, these will be among the biggest changes in the RFL since the creation of the Super League.
Revealing their plans earlier this week, the rugby authority confirmed that the second and third-tier divisions will be merging, with the changes set to be implemented from 2026 onwards.
You can see the statement in full down below, which has been met with a mix of
Confirmed in a lengthier statement online this past Wednesday, 27 August, the update reads: “The RFL Board have confirmed that the Betfred Championship and League One competitions will be combined in a single division outside the Betfred Super League (BSL) in 2026.
“This follows the decision to expand Super League from 12 clubs to 14, subject to conditions – which was taken by the existing Super League clubs last month.
“A number of fixture formats are being developed following consultation with the Championship and League One clubs, but there will be no final announcement until after the number and identity of clubs in each of the two expanded competitions is confirmed, on Thursday, October 16.
“However, the reversion to a single division outside Super League means the Middle Eights that had been scheduled for the end of the 2025 season, as a means of determining promotion and relegation between Championship and League One, will no longer take place.”
It’s also worth noting that these changes will also see the proposed Super 8s end-of-season fixtures scrapped, as the 12 teams set to compete in the playoff-style tournament are obviously now being combined into one league moving forward.
The Super 8s competition that would involve the top four League One clubs and the bottom four Championship clubs has been abandoned by the Rugby Football League.
It is highly expected that the Championship and League One will merge into one big division of 21 teams next season… pic.twitter.com/WDkshjYTS2
As detailed in the latest communication from the RFL, the League One champions’ prize of £25,000, as well as the usual trophy and medals promised at the start of the season, are still up for grabs; the Championship Play-Offs will still also take place as scheduled.
The winners of the Betfred Championship Grand Final are to receive £100k and 0.25 club grading points.
Commenting on the impending overhaul, Rugby League Commercial Chair Nigel Wood OBE – who headed up the latest strategic review – said: “Following the decision of the Betfred Super League clubs that the elite competition should expand to 14 clubs in 2026, subject to conditions, this is a logical and equally exciting next step.
“The Championship and L1 clubs have been extensively consulted and were virtually unanimous that the two divisional structure for the part-time game wasn’t working as well as it ought, particularly League One – and it is a great credit to the Championship clubs that they recognised that position.”
Reiterating the belief that this is the best way to support and promote “historic and ambitious clubs” outside of the BSL, helping boost attendances, finances and hopefully future investment. It remains a touchy subject for some, though.
The RFL merging divisions may not yet even matter for some.
Speaking of clubs looking for further backing, questions remain over the vetting process for investors and the ‘fit and proper persons tests’ in both rugby and football, especially with the ongoing crisis at Salford Red Devils.
With all that being said, while everyone will have the chance to win the new Championship and perhaps Super League promotion, the likes of Salford are just trying to stay afloat.
Regardless, what do you make of the RFL merging the Championship and League, and do you think it’s the right step for the future of rugby league?
Emily Sergeant -
17th February 2022 
