Wednesday 28th January
Storm Chandra produced a very wet day for us on Tuesday with rain almost continuous during daylight hours that added another 13.6mm to the January total, which now stands at 154.7mm, being 173% of my 42-year record. It is also the second wettest January that I have recorded since the station began in 1984, only beaten by the very wet January of 2014, when a massive 219.1mm of precipitation was recorded. It was another mild day that saw the thermometer reach a peak of 8.9C at 13.42 being 1.8C above average. During the evening the sky began to clear as the numerous weather fronts associated with Storm Chandra moved away, that resulted in the temperature falling away significantly after 15.00, then a slow decline to reach a minimum of 1.8C at 08.00 on Wednesday morning, being 0.6C above the January average. It was also the coldest night since the 15th.
After so many dull and gloomy starts to each new day it was a treat to see blue skies after first light on Wednesday. The drop in temperature had caused radiation fog to form in the River Og and River Kennet valleys, contained and thick initially at 07.00, that then began to spread out and thin by 08.00. As I finish this report at 08.45, the temperature has fallen a little further with a temperature of 1.4C.
A look at the forecast track of the jet steam for the next few days indicates that the unsettled weather will continue with a drier couple of days. However, currently there are three depressions in the Atlantic heading our way that will increase to four by Friday.
10th November 2025 marked 11 years since the Met Office named its first storm, Storm Abigail, launching a public-facing initiative that has since become a cornerstone of weather communication in the UK.
Storm naming facts
Since 2015, the Western Europe naming group – which includes the Met Office in the UK, Met Éireann in Ireland and KNMI in the Netherlands – have named a total of 73 storms, giving severe weather a clear identity for the media and public.
Will Lang, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: “Eleven years ago, Storm Abigail became the first UK storm to be named. Today, storm names are part of our national vocabulary.
“But storm naming is more than a label, it’s a public safety tool that makes severe weather easier to remember, talk about, and follow.
“We’ve named 73 storms since 2015, and each one helps communities prepare, keeps emergency services coordinated, and strengthens public awareness of severe weather risks.”
Storm naming: 10 years in numbers
• 73 storms named by the Western Europe naming group
• 12 named storms – the most in a season (2023/24)
• 2 named storms – the least in a season (2022/23)
• 122 mph – highest hourly gust speed recorded. Storm Eunice (2022) Needles, Isle of Wight
• 941.9 hPa – lowest mean sea level pressure (MSLP) recorded. Storm Éowyn(2025) Isle of Tiree, Inner Hebrides
• 266.8 mm – highest daily rainfall total. Storm Desmond (2015)
• 40,000+ – public submissions of storm names in 2025