A new round of storm names have been released by Met Éireann.
The Irish forecaster, along with the UK's Met Office and KNMI of the Netherlands, has released the list of new names for the upcoming storm season which starts on September 1st.
Storms are named when they could cause 'medium' or 'high' impacts in one of the three countries.
This allows messaging for the public to prepare for, and stay safe during, potentially severe weather.
When a storm is forecast the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from it names the storm.
Each of the three weather services contributed seven names to this season's list. Met Éireann has chosen names of eminent scientists from across the island of Ireland.
Source: Department of Housing, Local Government and HeritageThe letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, which is in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention.
Met Éireann Head of Forecasting Division, Eoin Sherlock, explained why storm naming is important.
"[It] makes severe weather communications clearer and more effective," he said.
"It connects our weather services more closely to the public, helping us in our mission to protect lives and property and ensuring the safety of our communities."
People walk along the seafront in Howth Dublin during Storm Franklin in February 2022. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNewsMr Sherlock said the public also had a say in the names.
"We are delighted to celebrate science and scientists in this year's names," he said.
"As part of our process we asked the public to choose the name for letter 'A', resulting in Agnes, after Irish astronomer and science writer Agnes Mary Clerke."
The letter 'J' is named after Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the Northern Ireland astrophysicist who discovered pulsars in 1967.
Reacting to the announcement, Prof Burnell said: "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," she added.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the British Met Office have been working together on the naming programme and were joined by the Netherlands’ KMNI in 2019.
The full 2023/24 list is:
- Agnes*
- Babet
- Ciarán
- Debi
- Elin
- Fergus*
- Gerrit
- Henk
- Isha
- Jocelyn*
- Kathleen*
- Lilian*
- Minnie
- Nicholas*
- Olga
- Piet
- Regina
- Stuart
- Tamiko
- Vincent*
- Walid
*Names chosen by Met Éireann
