September 21st 2024.
Last week, while Storm Lilian was raging across the UK, three bold children named Bert, Kayleigh, and Naoise braved the strong winds and sea spray on Crosby Beach promenade in Liverpool. But little did they know that soon, their names could potentially be wreaking havoc as they were among the names chosen to be given to storms in the coming year.
The Met Office recently announced this year's list of storm names, which will cover the 2024/2025 season starting in September, coinciding with the beginning of autumn. This tradition of naming storms began in the UK in 2015, though it has been in practice for much longer in the US. The purpose of this is to aid in communication about severe weather, making it easier for people to track its impact and warn others.
In fact, just earlier this summer, Storm Lilian hit the UK, which was actually the tail end of Hurricane Ernesto. It brought winds of over 70mph to parts of northern England and Wales. So who will be the namesakes of future storms and will any of them share your name? Here is the full list of 21 upcoming storm names: Ashley, Bert, Conall, Darragh, Eowyn, Floris, Gerben, Hugo, Izzy, James, Kayleigh, Lewis, Mavis, Naoise, Otje, Poppy, Rafi, Sayuri, Tilly, Vivienne, and Wren.
Last year, there were a total of twelve named storms, with each one following the alphabetical order. This year, we have already reached the letter L with Storm Lilian, but unless we have a particularly stormy year, it is unlikely that we will see a Storm Wren.
As we enjoy the last days of summer, with temperatures reaching up to 28°C in the south east, the Met Office released the list of names. They work in collaboration with the Irish Met Eireann in Ireland and Dutch weather service KNMI to select the names. Some of the names on the list, such as James, Lewis, and Mavis, are in honor of notable figures from the Met Office's 170-year history.
For instance, James is named after Group Captain James Stagg, who was the chief meteorologist responsible for advising General Dwight Eisenhower on the weather forecast for the D-Day landings. Lewis is included because of Lewis Fry Richardson, who used math and physics to create weather forecasts with the help of computers. And Mavis is named after Mavis Hinds, who played a key role in developing the earliest Met Office computers.
According to Will Lang, who leads severe weather responses for the Met Office, it is an honor to be able to celebrate their 170th birthday by recognizing the individuals who have made a significant impact in the field of weather and climate science services.
Now, you may be wondering why Storm Boris is not on the list. Well, the answer is quite simple. Storm Boris is currently causing chaos in Europe, but it was not named by the UK Met Office. Instead, it was named by Italy's Servizio Meteorologico, which uses a different naming list. In Italy, meteorological services in the central Mediterranean region decide together how to name storms that are likely to impact their area.
On the other hand, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands have their own naming system for storms. So unfortunately, for our UK readers, there will be no Storm Bert this time. But who knows, maybe in the future, we will see a storm with that name! As they say, better luck next time, Bert!
This article was originally published on August 29, 2024. So stay tuned for more updates on the upcoming storms and be prepared for whatever names Mother Nature throws our way.
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