Met Éireann, along with the national weather services of the UK (Met Office) and the Netherlands (KNMI), has released the list of new storm names for the 2023/2024 storm season, which starts on Friday 1st September.
Storms are named when they could cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. This enables consistent, authoritative messaging to support the public to prepare for, and stay safe during potentially severe weather events.
Each of the three meteorological services contributed seven names to this season’s list. Met Éireann chose names of eminent Irish/Northern-Irish scientists, to honour their important contributions to science and benefits for humankind.
The full 2023/24 list is:
- Agnes
- Babet
- Ciarán
- Debi
- Elin
- Fergus
- Gerrit
- Henk
- Isha
- Jocelyn
- Kathleen
- Lilian
- Minnie
- Nicholas
- Olga
- Piet
- Regina
- Stuart
- Tamiko
- Vincent
- Walid
When a storm is forecast the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather to hit its region names the storm. Storm naming happens in conjunction with orange/red weather warnings, which could be for wind, rain or snow or a combination of these conditions. Those warnings are issued based on a combination of numerical criteria and the potential impacts foreseen. Eoin Sherlock, Head of Forecasting Division in Met Éireann, emphasised:
"Storm naming is an important asset in our warnings arsenal and makes severe weather communications clearer and more effective. It connects our weather services more closely to the public, helping us in our mission to protect lives and property and ensuring the safety of our communities.
We are delighted to celebrate science and scientists in this year’s names. As part of our process we asked the public to choose the name for letter “A”, resulting in Agnes, after Irish astronomer and science writer Agnes Mary Clerke. Our warmest thanks to all who voted and to those who suggested other names that we will keep in mind for future seasons.
As we move in to storm season, we advise people to prepare now for possible severe weather events. We echo public safety advice to “Be Winter Ready”. You can find the latest forecasts and warnings in met.ie and Met Éireann’s app.”
The letter “J” this year is named by Met Éireann after Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the brilliant astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsating radio stars (or pulsars) in 1967. She has led a distinguished career in research and teaching, with an emphasis on empowering women in physics.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming programme and were joined by the Netherlands’ KMNI in 2019.
