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
Heaton Park’s ‘Gallagher Hill’ where people have been watching Oasis for free is no more
Thomas Melia
The Heaton Park viewpoint coined ‘Gallagher Hill’ which fans flocked to to watch Oasis for free has been closed off ahead of the remaining gig dates.
The particular high area of Heaton Park has gone viral online after Oasis fans have been using it to watch the Live ’25 shows for free, with a distant view of the huge screens.
But as thousands of ticket-holders flock back to the remaining Manchester gigs of Oasis Live ’25, fans who couldn’t manage to get any tickets will be disappointed to learn that the viral viewing point Gallagher Hill has been shut down.
Usually, this hill section of the Manchester green space isn’t filled with Gallagher supporters – it’s normally home to a herd of cows who use this land to graze and walk about on throughout the day.
Huge fences have now been erected around the area to prevent any further groups from gathering, with Oasis still set to perform on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Manchester City Council has said that there are also around 300 young trees that have been planted in this part of Heaton Park to develop a new woodland area.
The purpose of the fencing is ‘dual purpose’, a council spokesperson said: “Both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there. The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”
After seeing videos of fans in this particular area, one TikTok user checked it out for herself asking her followers: “Would you get on Gallagher hill now?” before panning her camera to show cows grazing on the land.
Although fans of the Manchester icons were flocking to this spot in order to join in on the Oasis fun from afar, issues have been raised via safety concerns of visitors, the cattle herd and reports of litter.
Fans are now being directed to enjoy the many, many events taking place in the city centre, including the MCR Live Hub at Piccadilly Gardens.
‘Gallagher Hill’ in Manchester today ahead of the next Oasis shows. Credit: The Manc Group
Some fans have been very understanding reasoning this fair decision admitting, “Probably because of security and threats unfortunately”, while others express their disappointment asking, “How sad do you have to be to put that up?”.
One social media user, who was planning on taking a family member to this brand new Manchester landmark commented, “They could’ve utilised Gallagher hill”.
The fan went on to pose the question of making it an official viewpoint for concerts, posing the question, “£30 entry fee, is that too steep?”.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure, Manchester City Council, said: “The atmosphere across Manchester has been electric over this last week with the whole city swept up in Oasis fever and peaking over the weekend with the first two hugely successful homecoming concerts at Heaton Park.
“As you would expect given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimalised.
“The steps being taken ahead of the next concert regretfully mean the distant view of the large screens behind the event stage will no longer be there. Unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place to protect the very recent extensive planting of young trees in that location as we try to establish a new woodland area in the park, and the wellbeing of our cattle herd in the field, as well as to keep people in the park safe.
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead. The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Kolo Touré joins Manchester City’s backroom staff on a permanent basis
Danny Jones
Former Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool defender, Kolo Touré, has now permanently re-joined the club as a first-team coach.
The retired centre-back, who finished his career at Scottish giants Celtic FC before hanging up his boots back in 2017 and becoming part of their backroom staff, has been working with Man City as part of the FIFA Club World Cup set-up.
Having clearly impressed on the road, not to mention having spent last season as Assistant Lead Coach alongside U18s boss Oliver Reiss – with the youth side winning the Premier League North title – the 44-year-old has now been given an assistant coaching job with the senior squad on a full-time basis.
Announced on Tuesday, 15 July, ahead of City’s pre-season tour getting underway next month, Kolo Touré is the latest among multiple recent appointments to manager Pep Guardiola’s ranks.
Hailing from the Ivory Coast and having enjoyed a career spanning more than 15 years, he’s considered one of the greatest African players of all time, so it’s no question that he brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the role.
Touré, who made more than a century of appearances for the Blues, began his coaching journey with the national team before assisting Brendan Rodgers at both Celtic and Leicester City.
He also spent a rather short spell at another Greater Manchester side, being made head coach of Wigan Athletic in November 2022.
But it wasn’t to be…
The older brother of fellow City club legend, Yaya, was ultimately sacked around two months later (just 59 days, to be exact) after having failed to win a single fixture in his first name games in charge.
Kolo Touré taking instructions from Pep, the chemistry’s taking shape. Brilliant to see Kolo soaking it all in from the very best. He’s here for the long haul, man. You can feel it. pic.twitter.com/RscM9rg0GS
Commenting on Toure’s appointment as first-team assistant coach, Director of Football Hugo Viana said in an official club statement: “We’re delighted to permanently add Kolo to our first team coaching staff.
“Not only does he bring his immensely precious experience at football’s elite level, but he also has a deep connection with Manchester City and a deep knowledge of the Club.
“We’ve also been hugely impressed with his work and success with our Under-18s, and by adding him to our senior staff permanently, this will only strengthen the transition for players in our Academy into the first team.
“As we already saw throughout his time with Pep Guardiola, Pep Lijnders and James French this summer, his massive personality of optimism and positivity is hugely infectious and we’re already looking forward to his work moving forward.”
In case you were unfamiliar with the latter two names, you’ll find all you need to know down below.
Emily Sergeant -
17th February 2022 
