Ireland’s storm names for the new season have been unveiled

Does your name appear?

Another season signals the end of summer in Ireland (not that we really got one this year) and with it a series of new storm names for the colder months ahead. While the weather is forecast to be relatively calm over the next week or so, Storm Agnes will be the first to make an appearance, and it is named after someone very special. https://twitter.com/CarlowWeather/status/1697477199308222828?s=20 The full 2023/24 list of storms is as follows:

• Agnes
• Babet
• Ciarán
• Debi
• Elin
• Fergus
• Gerrit
• Henk
• Isha
• Jocelyn
• Kathleen
• Lilian
• Minnie
• Nicholas
• Olga
• Piet
• Regina
• Stuart
• Tamiko
• Vincent
• Walid

According to the Met Éireann website, the letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, which is in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention. Storm Agnes is named after the Irish astronomer and science writer Agnes Mary Clerke, who was born in Skibbereen, County Cork, and won the Actonian prize. The letter “J” this year is named by Met Éireann after Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a brilliant astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsating radio stars (or pulsars) in 1967. She led a distinguished career in research and teaching, with an emphasis on empowering women in physics. Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell said this the inclusion of her name:

“I am delighted to feature in this distinguished list celebrating science and hope that if a potential “Storm Jocelyn” happens, it may be a useful stirring-up rather than a destructive event! Science advancements increase our knowledge and understanding of the world around us, and I think this is wonderful example of science-based services communications.”

Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming programme since 2015, with the Netherlands’ KMNI joining in 2019. Header image via Getty READ ON: - Ireland one of the best locations worldwide to invest in an Airbnb property - Newly reopened Irish hotel named as one of the best in the world - Animal shelter uses AI to show how dog would look if her ears weren't cropped