Environment

Storms Ali, Peggy, Tristan and Gareth could be on way soon

Polling suggests almost 80 per cent of people think giving storms a name raises awareness

Storm Ophelia battering Lahinch in Co Clare last October. The storm brought some of the wildest conditions to hit this country in about 50 years. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA
Storm Ophelia battering Lahinch in Co Clare last October. The storm brought some of the wildest conditions to hit this country in about 50 years. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA
Wed Sept 12 2018 - 00:01

The first major storms of the season to blow across Ireland and Britain will be named Ali, Bronagh and Callum, Met Éireann and the UK’s Met Office have announced.

Other names chosen by the weather agencies, on the back of public submissions, include Gareth, Deirdre, Peggy, Saoirse, Max, Kevin, Hannah and Tristan.

It is the fourth year that the Met Office and Met Éireann have run the “Name our Storms” scheme, which aims to raise awareness of severe weather events before they hit.

Polling suggests almost 80 per cent of people think giving storms a name is useful in making them aware that severe weather may have a greater impact than normal, while 63 per cent believe it lets them know to take action.

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While it is too early to say whether the coming winter will be a stormy one or a quiet one we are prepared with a whole new set of 21 names for whatever nature may throw at us

Last October Storm Opehlia brought some of the wildest conditions to hit Ireland in some 50 years, and then in March Storm Emma brought freezing conditions, heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions.

Alphabetical list

This year the first storm gets a male name, Ali, followed by an alternating pattern of female and male names which was established by the US national hurricane centre in the 1970s. The alphabetical list of names skips Q, U, X, Y and Z to comply with international storm-naming conventions.

The 2017-2018 season kicked off with Storm Aileen, the first of 10 severe weather events to be named in the past year, and ended with Hector earlier this summer.

Evelyn Cusack, head of forecasting at Met Éireann, said the last 12 months had seen some extreme weather at home and abroad.

“While it is too early to say whether the coming winter will be a stormy one or a quiet one we are prepared with a whole new set of 21 names for whatever nature may throw at us.”

The full list of storm names for 2018/2019 is: Ali, Bronagh, Callum, Deirdre, Erik, Freya, Gareth, Hannah, Idris, Jane, Kevin, Lily, Max, Niamh, Oliver, Peggy, Ross, Saoirse, Tristan, Violet and Wyn. – PA