With the possibility of more turbulent weather later this year members of the public are being asked to play their part in influencing how the UK and Ireland talk about the weather.
Both the UK Met Office and Ireland’s Met Éireann have launched appeals for people to help name storms for the upcoming 2025/26 season.
This will be the 11th year in which storms are given names, and it is a collaboration between national weather services in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The naming system is designed to raise awareness and encourage safety when severe weather is forecast to hit, which appears to be working.
Submissions for the new list must be received by Met Éireann by 1 July, with the organisation asking that “names should be appropriate and respect the diversity of Ireland, as well as the UK and the Netherlands”.
The Met Office will accept names until 3 July and, along with Ireland and the Netherlands, will also exclude those beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, in line with international storm naming conventions.
“We all remember the impactful storm names of recent years,” said Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office.
“Whether it’s Eunice, Franklin, Bert or another impactful event, the storm naming system has helped us communicate weather to help people stay safe.
“Now we need the UK public to help us compile this year’s list.
“Whether you want to honour a weather-lover in your family, remember a family pet or get a friend’s name in the headlines, we welcome submissions from the public to help us pull together next year’s list of storm names.”
There have been five named storms so far in the 2024/25 season, with Storm Éowyn the last one named on 21 January.
Storms are named when forecasts indicated they could cause medium to high impacts in one or more of the three countries and typically coincide with amber or red warnings being issued.
The new storm list for 2025/26 is expected to be unveiled on 1 September.
