Potential 'Storm Gladys' could hit UK just days after havoc of Storms Franklin, Eunice and Dudley

Up until Wednesday, this winter has, other than Storm Barra right back at the start of the season, been a remarkably benign affair.

Snow, much to the resigned disappointment of everyone under 10 years old, has been mostly restricted to the high ground of Scotland - a typical snow story for them. We actually had a rather brighter and drier January than we might normally expect and temperatures hovered around or just above the seasonal average.

So far, so underwhelming.

Until last week.

Storm Dudley, only our second storm of the winter, brought 81mph gusts to Capel Curig in Wales on Wednesday and widely gusts in excess of 60-70mph.

Amber warnings were in force across southern Scotland and northern England and a yellow warning of wind covered much of the north of the UK. Thousands were left without power, huge disruption was brought to the transport systems and at least one person was confirmed to have died.

And then, of course, there was Storm Eunice.

'The storm of the decade' hit the UK on Friday morning with very rare, pre-emptive Met Office red weather warnings in force across the south of the UK.

Weather Presenter Becky Mantin takes a look at what the next 36 hours hold

So rare in fact that it was the first time since this warning system began in 2008 that London has had a red warning in force.

An astonishing 122mph gust was recorded at The Needles on the Isle of Wight, setting a new record for England.

Even inland, gusts touching 80mph were recorded.

The Environment Agency had nearly a dozen severe flood warnings in force as high tides and storm surges combined to create danger to life situations and, as such, the public was advised to stay indoors.

Trees fell, church spires ripped from towers, planes struggled to land, transport ground to a halt, millions of people experienced power outages, and three deaths in the UK and one in Ireland have been reported.

And now there's Storm Franklin. Named by the Met Office this morning and promising, again, winds touching 80mph.

Weather warnings cover all but the far northeast of England and the bulk of Scotland.

The storm is expected to move in through this evening and overnight, before clearing through from the northwest during Monday morning with the strongest winds likely to be across Northern Ireland, the Isle Of Man and Irish Sea coasts.

We then have a brief, albeit blustery, clear up window before another potential named storm towards the end of the week.

Particularly windy conditions around Thursday could end up being named as Storm Gladys - although in meteorological terms, this is still too far away to call.

As always, you're strongly advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts on this developing situation.

Until now, two named storms in a week was the record. Now we're at three in five days - and potentially four in eight.

It appears that winter 2021/22 will not be leaving quietly.