New names proposed by the public mark the 10th year anniversary of the storm naming initiative.
Met Éireann, in partnership with the National Meteorological Services of the UK (Met Office) and the Netherlands (KNMI), has launched the new list of names for the 2025/26 storm ‘season', which starts today and runs until 31st August 2026.
This year, all three meteorological services asked the public for name suggestions.
Of the list of 21 names, each of the national partners has contributed seven names.
Met Éireann called on Ireland’s public to submit their preferred names through a social media campaign. More than 10,000 names were received from 4,137 members of the public.
Commenting on the launch, Eoin Sherlock, Head of Forecasting Division in Met Éireann, said:
'2025 marks 10 years since the storm naming initiative began and we wanted to involve Ireland’s public more than ever, so we invited them to send us their perfect storm names. There were many personal stories of friends, family, loved ones, and pets, as well as many suggestions honouring our history, culture, and literature. These included Bram, honouring the renowned Irish writer Bram Stoker, and Gerard, a gentleman fighting his own health battle and to whom we wish the best. Many noted how their children and grandchildren of all ages can be their own storms, such as Tadhg, who is a force of nature according to his grandmother.
'Naming storms is a powerful tool that supports us and other public safety organisations to increase awareness of severe and impactful weather alongside our weather warnings. We know that naming storms makes it easier for people to track important and up to date forecasts and safety-related information. A good example was Storm Éowyn last January, when our website, met.ie, received more than 3 million visits in 2 days. It all aids in protecting life and property across Ireland.
'Even though the process of selecting the names was a fun and light-hearted task, communicating forecast and safety messages ahead of and during every severe weather event is our highest priority. At the start of the storm season, we echo the government advice to ‘Be Winter Ready’ and prepare now for possible severe weather events to come.”
A storm is named when it could result in ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. Naming storms allows for authoritative and consistent communications with the public to enable them to prepare for, and stay safe, during potentially severe weather events.
When a storm is forecast, the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather or is likely to be affected first, names the storm. As well as naming a storm, relevant orange/red warnings may be issued for wind, rain, or snow, or a combination of these conditions. Any warnings issued are based on a combination of numerical criteria and the potential impacts foreseen. Up to date information on all Irish weather forecasts and warnings can be found on the Met Éireann website and app.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming programme, and were joined by the Netherland’s KNMI in 2019.
