Friday morning after the night before. An evening of Explosive Cyclogenesis. Not the monthly committee meeting of the Tennis Club but the factors that have created Storm Austen. Although the committee meeting was timely so a joint decision could be made to close the club and grounds today.

Austen as the name for the first of the named storms of 2026 was too good a chance to not use some literary silliness.

But what word joy does the term Explosive Cyclogenesis bring.

Key Criteria

• Pressure Drop: The central barometric pressure of the low-pressure system drops by 24 millibars (hPa) or more within 24 hours (adjusted slightly depending on the latitude, such as 24 mbar at 60° latitude).
• Season & Setting: It typically occurs during the cooler autumn and winter months over maritime (oceanic) regions where strong temperature contrasts exist, though it can also happen over land.
• Impacts: As air rushes inward to fill the rapidly dropping pressure zone, it spins faster and generates violent winds (sometimes reaching hurricane-force), heavy rain, blizzards, or severe coastal storm surges.

I wonder if there is a word or pair of words that can encapsulate the highs and lows of the Committee meetings of Volunteer organisations.

Professional Commitee meetings are one thing many of us have been paid to tolerate over the years. But the worlds of voluntary organisations and their management is a far more unpredictable and at times entertaining use of a couple of hours.

Although not so long ago in Covid times I attended an Arts organisation Zoom meeting that lasted 6.5 hours. I will be honest and admit to having to prop myself up to catch some essential and restorative Zeds due to boredom. The early days of Covid meetings on zoom were wild!

There were some moments that might be described as a frank exchange of views at our meeting last night.The more mundane moments of blocked toilets and ping pong balls softened the overall timbre of our evening, as Storm Austen raged overhead. It did not take much Persuasion for us to make the meeting snappy and head for home.

I can’t say I can come up with a word for fractious committee meetings of either the Professional or Voluntary sort.But the lovely Jane Austen, in Emma, provides a quote that I always pack in my meetings folder. You too might find it invaluable.It has served me well for fifty years.

‘Vanity, working on a weak head causes all sorts of mischief’