The names of those who work to keep people safe in times of severe weather have been included in the new storm names for the 2023/24 season.
The Met Office, in partnership with Met Éireann and KNMI, have announced the new list.
Storms will get named by the group when they’re deemed to have the potential to cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands. Wind is the primary consideration for naming a storm, but additional impacts from rain or snow will also be considered in the naming process.
Agnes, Babet and Ciarán will be the first three named storms by the group this season.
Other names are: Debi, Elin, Fergus, Gerrit, Henk, Isha, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Lilian, Minnie, Nicholas, Olga, Piet, Regina, Stuart, Tamiko, Vincent, Walid.
Q, U, X, Y and Z are not included to be in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention.
Met Office Head of Situational Awareness Will Lang, who leads responses in times of severe weather, said: “This is the ninth year of us naming storms and we do it because it works. Naming storms helps to ease communication of severe weather and provides clarity when people could be impacted by the weather.
“This year, it’s great to be able to recognise the collaborative efforts of some of our partners across the UK with the inclusion of names from some partner organisations. Working across different agencies allows us to help as many people as possible be prepared for severe weather.”
