Storm Eva

Storm Eva (also called Chuck, Staffan and other names) was the fifth named storm of the Met Office and Met Éireann's Name our Storms project. Heavy rainfall from Eva occurred around three weeks after Storm Desmond had brought severe flooding to parts of Northern England, exacerbating the ongoing situation.^[6] The low pressure was named Chuck by the Free University of Berlin and Staffan by the Swedish Meteorological Institute.^[7][8]

Eva

Storm Eva 23 December
Type	Extratropical cyclone
Duration	23–24 December 2015[note 1]
Highest gust	84 mph (135 km/h) (Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland)[3]
Damage	≥ £2.0 billion (≥ €2.2 billion) (2015)[4]
Power outages	3,000[5]
Areas affected	Ireland, United Kingdom
Part of the 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season

Meteorological history

Path of Storm Eva

Map key

Saffir–Simpson scale

  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown

Storm type

Tropical cyclone

Subtropical cyclone

Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

Forecasts

Eva was the fifth storm to be officially named by Met Éireann on 22 December 2015. An orange wind warning was issued for counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal on the same day. Gales were also expected in the northwest of the United Kingdom, with storm force winds over parts of the Outer Hebrides.^[6] There were fears that the storm could cause further disruption to Cumbria in England, where areas were already dealing with the aftermath of flooding from Storm Desmond and in some cases had been flooded twice already.^[9] The army and Environment Agency staff were called in to be on stand-by to bolster flood defences.^[10]

Impact

See also: 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods

Rain associated with the passage of Eva caused disruption when rivers burst their banks in the Cumbrian towns of Appleby, Keswick and Kendal on the 22 December. Appleby received three to four feet of flood water.^[11][12] The village of Glenridding was flooded for the third time in the month.^[13] Six thousand houses in Ireland were left without power.^[14] In London, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Liz Truss convened a COBRA meeting to decide on emergency measures, which included the deployment of soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment^[15] to the affected areas.^[16][17] On 24 December, flood defence gates were closed in Carlisle, Keswick and Cockermouth to limit the damage expected from rainfall and 20 water pumps and two kilometres (1.2 mi) of temporary flood barriers were transported to northern England.^[18] Ferries operating between Dublin and Holyhead were cancelled due to bad weather on the Irish Sea.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. This is the date it made an impact on the UK and Ireland.^[1][2]