Severe Irish weather will have some very Irish names for 2018-2019
Ireland and UK's list of official storm names for 2018 - 2019 has been released and it is chock full of Irish names.
A joint effort by Met Éireann and the UK Met Office, the official list provides 21 names for the potentially severe weather in the upcoming year.
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Included in the list are famously traditional Irish names Bronagh, Saoirse, Callum, Deirdre, and Niamh.
The list combines suggestions from the public as well as “names that reflect the culture and diversity of Ireland and Britain.” The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z aren’t included, conforming with international storm naming conventions.
Ireland and UK's official storm names 2018-2019
Naming storms in the Ireland and UK region first began in 2015 as a means of making the public more aware of severe weather. Surveys indicate that 77% of people found naming storms useful for making the public aware of severe weather.
Storms are only named when they reach ‘Amber' status in the UK and 'Status Orange' in the Republic of Ireland. Last year, severe Irish weather saw the naming of ten storms which began with Aileen in September 2017 and ended with Hector in summer of 2018.
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Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann, said “The last 12 months have seen some extreme weather around the globe as well as here at home. While it is too early to say whether the coming winter will be a stormy one or a quiet one we are prepared with a new set of 21 names for whatever nature may throw at us.”
Derrick Ryall, Head of Public Weather Services at the Met Office, said “Naming storms has been proved to raise awareness of severe weather in the UK and Ireland, providing a consistent message to the public and crucially prompting people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property.”
The full list of storm names for 2018/2019 is:
- Ali
- Bronagh
- Callum
- Deirdre
- Erik
- Freya
- Gareth
- Hannah
- Idris
- Jane
- Kevin
- Lily
- Max
- Niamh
- Oliver
- Peggy
- Ross
- Saoirse
- Tristan
- Violet
- Wyn
Did your favorite Irish name make the list? Share below!
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