There is a strong literary connection in the new storm names announced for this winter, according to Met Éireann forecaster Evelyn Cusack.
There are a number of strong Irish names in the list agreed between Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and KNMI in the Netherlands.
Ireland and the UK have been working together on storm names since 2014 and the Netherlands joined up in 2019.
The suggestions are mainly put forward by the public and the Irish names on this year’s list include Barra, Seán, Méabh and Pól.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, forecaster Evelyn Cusack said there is also a strong literary connection this year.
“This year it starts with A for Arwen which is a good strong female name from The Lord of the Rings,” she said.
“Barra is second on the list and actually that is good Cork name from St Finbarr, but it is also the first name of a well-known Northern Ireland weatherman - that is Barra Best - so I think we can take that as a Northern Ireland name.
“The third name is Corrie – that is actually put forward by our colleagues in KNMI and is after the first female meteorologist at KNMI in 1964.
“D is for Dudley and actually we put the Ds out for public vote last weekend, so we had Diarmuid from Ireland, Duncan form Scotland, Dudley there an also Dafydd from Wales – but Dudley won out which I think shows the power of Harry Potter.”
Storm names. Image: Met ÉireannMs Cusack noted that last winter was relatively quiet for storm names with Aiden the only Irish suggestion that was put to use.
She said Ireland would continue to work with the weather offices in the UK and the Netherlands to “provide a clear and consistent message to the public and encouraging people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their properties at times of severe weather.”
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