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It's certainly a wild and windy start to the week with strong to severe gale force winds buffeting Wales for the second time this month.

The strongest winds have been in the north. On the Llyn Peninsula the wind touched storm force 10 on the this morning.

The highest gust recorded was 81 mph near Capel Curig in Dyffryn Mymbyr - the weather station there is exposed at 215 metres, 705 feet above sea level so often registers high gusts.

In the south, the highest gust recorded was 62mph at Mumbles Head in Swansea which is very exposed sticking out into the sea.

Looking towards Pwll Du Head, taken from the cliffs at Pennard, Gower. Photograph by Mary Jones, Swansea.

The strong winds have caused some travel disruption and structural damage. Some trees have been blown down as they are still in full leaf which means they are more vulnerable.

Mind you, we've had much worst storms in the past. In an intense Atlantic depression hit Britain causing widespread structural damage, travel disruption and 47 deaths, while the highest gust recorded at a low-level site in Wales is 124mph at Cardiff Airport on 28 October 1989.

The gales we're experiencing today are due to the remains of Hurricane Katia. She started life as a minor disturbance off the west coast of Africa on 27 August, became a tropical storm on 30 August and finally developed into a hurricane on 1 September.

Later as she moved north east into the North Atlantic she began to lose strength and was downgraded to a tropical storm on 11 September. The centre of the storm will cross northern Scotland today and then .

Sometimes, we get the "tail-end" of hurricanes in Britain blown towards us by the jet stream high in the atmosphere. If the jet stream is strong, it can invigorate the storm and shoot it across the Atlantic very fast.

By the time they reach our latitude they are weaker than when they are over the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico and are classified as an extra tropical storm. However, the storm can still pack a punch, and cause damage with heavy rain and winds up to storm or hurricane force.

In Britain, we don't get full blown hurricanes because the sea around us is too cool for them to form. Hurricanes develop over tropical seas where the surface water temperature is 26 Celsius or higher.

Hurricanes names are chosen from a list selected by the World Meteorological Organization. The Atlantic is assigned six lists of names, with one list used each year. Every sixth year, the first list begins again.

Each name on the list starts with a different letter, for example, the name of the very first hurricane of the season starts with the letter A, the next starts with the letter B, and so on.

The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used because few names begin with those letters. If more than 21 storms should occur in any season, then there is a reserve list that uses the Greek alphabet.

When an unusually destructive hurricane hits, such as Hurricane Katrina, that hurricane's name is retired and never used again.

2011 Hurricane names:

• Arlene
• Bret
• Cindy
• Don
• Emily
• Franklin
• Gert
• Harvey
• Irene
• Jose
• Katia
• Lee
• Maria
• Nate
• Ophelia
• Philippe
• Rina
• Sean
• Tammy
• Vince
• Whitney

In 1986 the "tail-end" of Hurricane Charley lashed Wales creating the wettest August Bank Holiday on record. In Ireland, particularly the Republic, it was a major disaster.

As far as the rest of today goes, it's still windy as I write and will remain so tonight although the wind ease a little. Tomorrow will be windy but not as strong as today. On Wednesday the wind will ease further. Thursday looks the best day of the week. Dry with light winds and some sunshine thanks to a ridge of high pressure.

Derek