2020–21 European Windstorm Season
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The 2020–2021 European windstorm season was the sixth instance of seasonal
European windstorm European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclone, cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak ...
naming in Europe. This is the second season in which the Netherlands participates, joining Ireland's and the United Kingdom's meteorological agencies. It comprised a year from 1 September to 31 August. The Portuguese, Spanish, and French meteorological agencies will again collaborate too, joined by the Belgian meteorological agency.


Background and naming

In 2015, the
Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
and
Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning "Meteorology, Met of Ireland") is the state meteorology, meteorological service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorolog ...
announced a pilot project to name storm warnings as part of the "Name our Storms" project for wind storms and asked the public for suggestions. The meteorological offices produced a full list of names for 2015–2016 through to 2017–2018, common to both the United Kingdom and Ireland, with the Netherlands taking part from 2019 onwards. Names in the United Kingdom will be based on the
National Severe Weather Warning Service The National Severe Weather Warning Service (shortened to NSWWS) is a service provided by the Met Office in the United Kingdom. The purpose of this service is to warn the public and emergency responders of severe or hazardous weather which has t ...
, when a storm is assessed to have the potential for an Amber ('be prepared') or Red ('take action (danger to life)') warning. There are two main naming lists: one created by the national meteorological agencies of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands, and another created by the equivalent agencies from France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Additionally, former
Atlantic hurricane An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon", and "cyclone, tropical cyclone" can be used interchangeably to describe this weather ph ...
s will retain their names as assigned by the
National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...
of the United States. Also, some of these storms may be of tropical origins. For example, ex-Hurricane Lorenzo of 2019 made landfall in Ireland and the United Kingdom. All details on tropical storms and hurricanes can be found on the National Hurricane Centre.


Western group (United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands)

The following names have been selected for the 2020–2021 season.


South western group (France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium)

This will be the fourth year in which the meteorological agencies of France, Spain and Portugal will be naming storms that affect their areas. This naming scheme partially overlaps that used by the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, as storms named by the other group of agencies will be used reciprocally.


Season summary

ImageSize = width:1600 height:235 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:1 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:200. AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/09/2020 till:31/08/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/10/2020 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.9) id:4 value:RGB(0.87, 0.80, 0.53) legend:Western_group id:5 value:RGB(0.78, 0.91, 0.69) legend:South_western_group id:6 value:white legend:Ex-Hurricanes Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:european_windstorm bar:Month PlotData= barset:european_windstorm width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till # storms here, group by 6 before break from:30/09/2020 till:03/10/2020 color:5 text:"
Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...
" from:20/10/2020 till:22/10/2020 color:5 text:"Barbara" from:30/10/2020 till:02/11/2020 color:4 text:"Aiden" from:27/11/2020 till:02/12/2020 color:5 text:"Clement" from:02/12/2020 till:05/12/2020 color:5 text:"Dora" from:05/12/2020 till:12/12/2020 color:5 text:"Ernest" from:25/12/2020 till:31/12/2020 color:4 text:"Bella" from:05/01/2021 till:11/01/2021 color:5 text:"
Filomena Filomena is a form of the Greek female given name Philomena. It means "friend of strength" (φίλος : ''phílos'' "friend, lover" and μένος : ''ménos'' "mind, purpose, strength, courage") or "loved one" (φιλουμένη : ''philoumé ...
" from:18/01/2021 till:26/01/2021 color:4 text:"Christoph" from:19/01/2021 till:20/01/2021 color:5 text:"Gaetan" barset:break from:20/01/2021 till:25/01/2021 color:5 text:"Hortense" from:22/01/2021 till:26/01/2021 color:5 text:"Ignacio" from:26/01/2021 till:30/01/2021 color:5 text:"Justine" from:05/02/2021 till:07/02/2021 color:4 text:"Darcy" from:19/02/2021 till:22/02/2021 color:5 text:"Karim" from:19/04/2021 till:25/04/2021 color:5 text:"Lola" from:29/07/2021 till:31/07/2021 color:4 text: "Evert" bar:Month width:7 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/09/2020 till:30/09/2020 text:September from:01/10/2020 till:31/10/2020 text:October from:01/11/2020 till:30/11/2020 text:November from:01/12/2020 till:31/12/2020 text:December from:01/01/2021 till:31/01/2021 text:January from:01/02/2021 till:28/02/2021 text:February from:01/03/2021 till:31/03/2021 text:March from:01/04/2021 till:30/04/2021 text:April from:01/05/2021 till:31/05/2021 text:May from:01/06/2021 till:30/06/2021 text:June from:01/07/2021 till:31/07/2021 text:July from:01/08/2021 till:31/08/2021 text:August


Storms


Storm Alex

Storm Alex, named by
AEMET The State Meteorological Agency (, AEMET) is a state agency of the Government of Spain responsible for providing weather forecast, warnings of hazardous weather and assisting the administrations in such matters. The AEMET is part of the Secretari ...
and
Météo-France Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, study ...
on 30 September, formed near
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
on 1 October after undergoing
explosive cyclogenesis Explosive cyclogenesis (also referred to as a weather bomb, meteorological bomb, explosive development, bomb cyclone, or bombogenesis) is the rapid deepening of an extratropical cyclonic low-pressure area. The change in pressure needed to class ...
. Because of this storm, one department in France, the
Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...
, was upgraded to the red alert for strong winds at 4:00 pm Central Time. Alex caused much damage in the department of the Morbihan. Trees were blown down and
road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...
s and
railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
were closed due to flooding and the trees which were downed by the strong winds. Around 100,000 power outages were reported in Brittany. Météo-France observed local strong winds over land ( in Granville, in
Sarzeau Sarzeau (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the Rhuys peninsula between the Gulf of Morbihan and the Atlantic Ocean. History The area around the Morbihan has been occupied since N ...
, in
Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...
, in
Cholet Cholet (, probably from Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a commune of western France, in the Maine-et-Loire department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous commune of Maine-et-Loire, after the prefecture, Angers. ...
). The storm led to
advection In the fields of physics, engineering, and earth sciences, advection is the transport of a substance or quantity by bulk motion of a fluid. The properties of that substance are carried with it. Generally the majority of the advected substance is a ...
of Mediterranean air northwards where it interacted with the coastal topography producing a heavy rainfall in southeast France, known as a "Mediterranean Episode". The department of the
Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...
was issued with a red alert for high amounts of rain and flooding. Météo-France reported a maximum of in 24 hours in Mons. More generally, were reported in the department of the Alpes-Maritimes. Météo-France also reported in departments of the
Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.
,
Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
,
Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...
,
Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...
, Jura and
Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.
. in 24 hours in
La Rochepot La Rochepot () is a Communes of France, commune in France in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department. It is a part of the canton of Arnay-le-Duc and of the arrondissement of Beaune. It has a hillside castle, convert ...
, Côte-d'Or, set a new a record for
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
in October. At least 6 people were reported dead; 1 in Brest and 5 in the Alpes-Maritimes with 7 missing in total and for a dozen others families and authorities don't have any news. In Italy, 2 deaths were reported with 1 person missing. Strong gusts caused one death in each of Austria, Poland and Czech Republic. Many yellow and amber weather warnings were issued in the United Kingdom for strong winds and heavy rain. As of 21:00 BST, the Met Office reported the maximum rainfall total to be at
Liss Liss, Lyss or LISS may refer to *Liss (band), a Danish musical group * Liss (name), a given name and surname *Liss, Hampshire, a village in England ** West Liss, the oldest part of Liss village **Liss Forest, a hamlet near Liss ** Liss Athletic F ...
, Hampshire, with the maximum gust of being recorded at
Berry Head Berry Head is a coastal headland that forms the southern boundary of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Lying to the east of the town of Brixham, it is a national nature reserve (United Kingdom), national nature reserve and a local nature reserve. Berr ...
, Devon. Many of the fatalities were caused by the ensuing landslides. On 5 October 2020, the death toll of the floods affecting France and Italy rose to 7 as three bodies were found in
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million The region of
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
witnessed levels of rain not recorded since 1958, in which it reached a record of rain in Sambughetto in just 24 hours. By 6 October, the death toll reached 12 with a further 20 still missing, as there were another five dead people in Italy, including a worker who was found in the Italian region of
Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
, having gone missing during the beginning of the floods. Moreover, cemeteries in
Saint-Martin-Vésubie Saint-Martin-Vésubie (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Sant Martin de Lantosca''; ) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Established on the edge of a glacial plate, it had a population ...
and
Tende Tende (; Italian language, Italian, Occitan language, Occitan and Royasc: ''Tenda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Tende is located within Mercanto ...
were partially washed out by the floods, in addition to seven Canadian black wolves which were lost from a wildlife park in Nice.
Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
's Minister of State Pierre Dartout announced that €4m would be distributed to the affected regions including French communities in Alpes-Maritimes and Italian municipality of
Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...
. Another 3 people were found dead, and another person went missing, bringing the number of missing people to 21, and the death toll to 15 individuals as of 7 October. By 3 October, one more individual had gone missing, but the other 21 missing people were found safe and rescued, bringing the number of missing persons to 1 individual. In addition, an Italian firefighter was killed by a falling branch.


Storm Barbara

Barbara developed from a wave on a front trailing from a complex of low-pressure southwest of Portugal on 19 October. It moved northwest over the Iberian peninsula into the Bay of Biscay, moving into the English Channel and over the North Sea, then into Scandinavia, bringing heavy rain and, in some places, their first snow of the season. Strong gusts and some damages was reported by the Meteo-France in association with the storm over parts of Spain, Portugal and France. Over 76,000 households in the latter's southwestern region lost power alone, while also causing significant damage to the electricity department. Numerous trees and power poles were also downed due to strong winds. It also killed an individual in
Digoin Digoin () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The junction of the '' Canal du Centre'' and the '' Canal latéral à la Loire'' is near Digoin. Geography The river Bourbin ...
,
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
when a tree collapsed on him in his garden. Total damages from the storm were estimated at greater than $50 million.


Storm Aiden

Storm Aiden was named by
Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning "Meteorology, Met of Ireland") is the state meteorology, meteorological service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorolog ...
senior executive Aidan McLaughlin on 30 October 2020. On 30 October,
Met Éireann Met Éireann (; meaning "Meteorology, Met of Ireland") is the state meteorology, meteorological service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. History The history of modern meteorolog ...
issued a Status Orange wind warning for counties Kerry,
Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...
,
Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
,
Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...
,
Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
,
Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...
and
Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...
, valid between 31 October 2020 05:00 and 31 October 2020 10:00. An additional Status Orange wind warning was issued for counties Donegal,
Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
, Mayo,
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
and
Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...
, valid between 31 October 2020 08:00 and 31 October 2020 16:00. In both warnings, mean wind speeds of were expected, with severe and damaging gusts of up to also expected. A Status Yellow wind warning was issued for all remaining counties, valid between 31 October 2020 01:00 and 31 October 2020 15:00. Over 8,000 homes and businesses were left without power as the storm battered the country with severe gusts of up to at Malin Head, Ireland, which led to fallen trees and flooding. The highest gust in the UK was at
Altnaharra Altnaharra () is a small hamlet in Sutherland in the Highland region of northern Scotland. The hamlet is on the A836 road, close to its junction with the B873. The nearest villages are Lairg and Tongue. Lochs in the area include Loch Naver an ...
, Sutherland.


Storm Clement

Storm Clement was named by
AEMET The State Meteorological Agency (, AEMET) is a state agency of the Government of Spain responsible for providing weather forecast, warnings of hazardous weather and assisting the administrations in such matters. The AEMET is part of the Secretari ...
on 27 November. It was located near the Azores Islands when it was named. By 28 November, Clement had moved slightly farther south and was affecting the Canary and Madeira Islands. The storm stalled, keeping the worst conditions away from mainland Europe. Portugal and some parts of Western Spain did see Clement's outer bands. The NHC was also monitoring the system for tropical or subtropical development. After stalling for about 4 days, the system dissipated on 2 December.


Storm Dora

Storm Dora was named on 2 December. It brought rain and snow to the UK, France, the Iberian Peninsula, and parts of Scandinavia. Areas closest to the coast saw some winds of more than . By late 4 December, the system had become very disorganized, and early on 5 December was absorbed by another low-pressure system, which was named Xunav by the Free University of Berlin.


Storm Ernest

Storm Ernest was named on 7 December by AEMET and Meteo France. It moved over the Bay of Biscay and then onto land bringing rain and wind to Northern Spain and the South of France. Its impacts then moved toward Italy and Switzerland, bringing rain and as well as snow in the mountains, but weaker winds. After reaching the shores of Italy, the system turned toward the northeast. Its rain then affected the Balkan countries and brought snow and/or mixed precipitation to parts of Belarus, Russia, and the Baltics, with its centre over Romania and Bulgaria. The system dissipated by 12 December.


Storm Bella

Storm Bella was named on 25 December by the Met Office. It hit the UK and the Netherlands, bringing wind gusts of up to or more. There is also the threat of flooding, which has forced many people to evacuate their homes. The system was notably large, since the low pressure covered most of the area between Greenland's east coast and Norway's west coast and the area between
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...
and Scotland on 25 December. The Norwegian coast was affected, causing much of the region to have a White Christmas. After making landfall, the weakening system turned north, and eventually dissipated in Central Scandinavia.


Storm Filomena

Storm Filomena was named by
AEMET The State Meteorological Agency (, AEMET) is a state agency of the Government of Spain responsible for providing weather forecast, warnings of hazardous weather and assisting the administrations in such matters. The AEMET is part of the Secretari ...
() on 5 January. It started as one system that split into two systems and hit Spain and Portugal back to back from 6 to 9 January. Near the coasts, wind gusts of up to occurred, as well as of rain. Further inland and in higher elevations, snowfalls of up to occurred, with areas of the city of Madrid receiving snow accumulation of up to . According to AEMET, Filomena was the largest snowstorm in Spain since 1971. In the mountains, wind gusts of up to accompanied the large snow totals. Due to the unprecedented amount of snowfall, some unsuspecting motorists were trapped on the roads for hours. 4 deaths have also been reported; two in Malaga due to flooding, and two homeless men who froze to death. One was in Madrid, the other in
Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest ...
. On 9 January, another of snow fell in Madrid. The system began to get very disorganized on January 12, and was absorbed by a system named Dimitrios (see below), by the 13th.


Storm Christoph

Storm Christoph was named on 18 January by the Met Office. It brought heavy flooding to homes in the United Kingdom and a snowstorm in Northern England. After moving away from the United Kingdom, it hit Scandinavia with strong winds and snow. Norway's meteorological service gave the storm the name "Frank". Northern Norway was hit by strong winds up to 50 m/s, and combined with low temperatures (−15 Â°C) the meteorological service warned for high risks of frostbite if staying outdoors. Heavy snowfall hit northern Sweden, some places bringing up to 1 meter of snow. Trains were halted in the regions of Jämtland and Norrbotten, and traffic was disrupted in all of Norrland as well as parts of eastern Norway. Snow and winds cut power to several thousand people in eastern Norway and disrupted the mobile network. The storm stalled over the Norwegian Sea for about 4 days, then dissipated by January 26.


Storm Gaetan

Storm Gaetan was named on 19 January. It followed a similar path to the one Christoph took. It hit Spain and the United Kingdom with strong winds, rain, and some snow. It was absorbed into Storm Christoph on 20 January.


Storm Hortense

Storm Hortense was named by AEMET on 20 January. It hit the Iberian Peninsula on 21 and 22 January, bringing wind gusts of up to , though there were some unofficial reports of . The system then affected Finland, and dissipated by January 25.


Storm Ignacio

Storm Ignacio was named on 22 January by AEMET and was active until the 26th. The storm moved over Spain and Italy with heavy rain. After that, the storm moved into
East-Central Europe East-Central Europe is a geopolitical term that primarily encompasses the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The area is bordered by East Slavic countries to the east and Germanic-speaking countries to the west ...
, bringing up to of snow in some areas.


Storm Justine

Justine was named on 26 January by IPMA. It caused rain and strong winds for Spain and France. Parts of Ireland and Southern England also recorded snowfall totals of up to . There were wind gusts as high as along the coasts of Northern Spain and Southwestern France. It was absorbed by another system that brought significant snow to areas of Croatia and Slovenia.


Storm Darcy

Storm Darcy was named on 5 February and brought high winds and heavy snowfall to Ireland, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom on 7–8 February. In the Netherlands and Germany, it resulted in the heaviest snowfall in a long while. The Netherlands announced a red weather alarm for 7 February for the whole country for the first time since 2012. Locally in
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, and in the Dutch
Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...
and
Achterhoek The Achterhoek (; ) is a cultural region and COROP area in the Eastern Netherlands. Its name (meaning "rear-corner") is geographically appropriate because the area lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland and therefore in the e ...
regions and
Arnhem–Nijmegen metropolitan area The Arnhem–Nijmegen metropolitan area (, ; originally called ''Knooppunt Arnhem-Nijmegen'' ) is a former Dutch plusregio, public body and intermunicipal institution. It was founded in 1988 for co-operation in the areas of housing, transport an ...
, the snow reached as tall as . Public transport schedules in the Netherlands were very disrupted. From the afternoon of 7 February and in the morning of 8 February, train traffic was completely stopped due to frozen switches. On 8 February, national Dutch newspapers including ''
De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...
'', ''
De Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...
'' and ''
Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' (; ), also known by its initialism ''AD'' () is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is headquartered i ...
'' did not print any physical copies due to the bad weather. The forecast prevalence of cold temperatures at night (down to –20 Â°C) led to increasing hopes for the first
Elfstedentocht The ''Elfstedentocht'' (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: ''Alvestêdetocht'' , English language, English: ''Eleven cities tour'') is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost long, which is held both as a speed skating com ...
(long-distance
ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...
event) since 1997, although the event was cancelled in November 2020 due to the
pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...
.


Storm Karim

Karim was named on 17 February. Orange warnings for wind were issued for parts of the northwest corner of Spain, alerting residents of wind gusts of up to . The system also affected most of Ireland and Scotland, bringing rain and moderate wind.


Storm Lola


Storm Evert

Evert named by the Met Office on 29 July was a late season storm which brought strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the United Kingdom. Amber wind warnings were issued for much of the Cornwall as well as the Isles of Scilly with yellow wind warnings having been issued for much of the south-west and south coast of England, as well as Southern Wales.


Other systems

A powerful cyclone, named Aila by the
Finnish Meteorological Institute The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; ; ) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomousl ...
, struck Finland, on 16 September and continued to cause disruption through the following day. The worst impacts were felt in south-central Finland, just north of
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
. In these areas, the storm brought heavy rain and wind. There were waves up to in height and winds up to . The most rain fell in
Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...
, where they got as much rain as they get in all of September from Aila. In terms of physical impacts, the storm disrupted ferry traffic, brought down trees, and cut power to at least 90,000 homes. Cyclone Ianos, a
medicane Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones, often referred to as Mediterranean cyclones or Mediterranean hurricanes, and shortened as medicanes, are meteorological phenomena occasionally observed over the Mediterranean Sea. On a few rare occasions, so ...
named by th
METEO
unit of the
National Observatory of Athens The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; ) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest List of research institutes in Greece, research foundation in Greece. The Observatory was the first scientific research insti ...
moved through Greece between 17 and 18 September. It resulted in the death of at least 3 people and train services connecting the north and south of Greece being cut off. The storm came with significant flooding and winds near or above hurricane-force. On 2 November the remains of
Hurricane Zeta Hurricane Zeta was a late-season tropical cyclone in 2020 that made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula and then in southeastern Louisiana, the latest on record to do so at such strength in the United States. Zeta was the record-tying sixth hur ...
hit Finland. It was not given a name by the
Finnish Meteorological Institute The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; ; ) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomousl ...
, but was commonly referred to as Topi, especially by the Swedish-language media in the country. It brought winds up to , cutting power to more than 16,000 people and disrupting the railway lines. The storm also brought high coastal waters, the water levels rising as much as in
Jakobstad Jakobstad (; , ) is a town in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Jakobstad is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Jakobstad is approximately , while the Jako ...
(Finnish: Pietarsaari). On 19 November, the extratropical remnants of
Hurricane Eta Hurricane Eta was a deadly and erratic tropical cyclone that devastated parts of Central America in early November 2020. The record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 A ...
hit Finland and were named Liisa (Lisa in Swedish) by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. It brought wind of up to , cutting power to more than 64,000 people. Trees and buildings were damaged too. Heavy rain also induced travel difficulties, with slippery roads causing poor driving conditions, as well as damage to rail tracks forcing train services to be delayed or cancelled throughout the country. Storm Dimitrios, named by the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
, affected Northern Europe on from 10 to 12 January. Its most notable effects were ln Sweden, where the
SMHI The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (, SMHI) is a Swedish government agency and operates under the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise. SMHI has expertise within the areas of meteorology, hydrology and oceanography, and has exte ...
issued a Red Warning for snow in parts of
Västernorrland County Västernorrland County () is a county ('' län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western Norrland", as it was in the ...
, which was the first time they had done so since 2010. The storm caused blizzard conditions in that area, with wind gusts of at times and of snowfall in some areas west of the city of
Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...
. The storm left 6,000 customers in Northern Sweden without power. Strong winds and rain were also present in Finland and Germany. Storm Klaus, a small but slightly dangerous storm, was named by the FUB on 8 March. The storm brought showers, heavy rain and isolated wind gusts of up to . The system primarily affected Germany and Norway. On 4 May, a late-season storm named Eugen by the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
affected Northern France and Belgium, bringing gusts up to 130 km/h. In Boulogne-sur-Mer, it equalized the windspeed record for May with 133 km/h. On July 14, a system named Bernd caused the
2021 European floods In July 2021, several European countries were affected by severe floods. Some were catastrophic, causing deaths and widespread damage. The floods started in the United Kingdom as flash floods causing some property damage and inconvenience. Lat ...
in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.deadly flooding ravages Europe, Belgium and Germany
Accuweather


Season effects


Coordination of storms named by European meteorological services


See also

*
Weather of 2021 The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2021. The year began with La Niña conditions. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat wave ...
* Cyclone Ianos – a
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones, often referred to as Mediterranean cyclones or Mediterranean hurricanes, and shortened as medicanes, are meteorological phenomena occasionally observed over the Mediterranean Sea. On a few rare occasions, so ...
in September 2020. *
Subtropical Storm Alpha The name Alpha or Alfa has been used for three subtropical cyclones and one tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean: * Subtropical Storm Alpha (1972), pre-season storm that made landfall in Georgia * Subtropical Storm Alfa (1973), briefly threaten ...
– a
subtropical cyclone A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and extratropical cyclones. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclone ...
in the eastern North Atlantic that made landfall in Portugal in September 2020. * 2020–2021 North American winter


References


External links


Agencia Estatal de Meteorología storm list



Koninklijk Meteorologisch Instituut

Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut

Met Éireann storm centre

Met Office UK Storm Centre

Météo-France

NOAA
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