As of mid-October 2026, the UK had not had its first named storm of the 2026–27 season because the jet stream, the band of fast high-altitude winds that steers Atlantic low-pressure systems, has mostly sat to the north or north-west of the country. That pattern has pushed deep, stormy lows away from the UK and let high pressure dominate, which is why the bigger story has been drought in parts of southern England rather than gales.
A late start is not unusual: in about half of the years since the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands began naming storms in 2015, the first named storm arrived after 1 November. BBC Weather says the jet stream was expected to shift in the following week, and the Met Office’s October–December outlook gives double the normal chance of wetter weather and 1.3 times the normal chance of windier weather, consistent with past El Niño events.
Source: “Why hasn’t the UK had any named storms yet?,” BBC Weather (October 17, 2026).
Image: Jet stream clouds photographed from orbit, NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.