Name our Storms

Now coming in to its sixth year, the Name our Storms collaboration has been helping to raise awareness of the potential impacts of severe weather before it arrives. Similar to previous years, the 2020/2021 list has been compiled from names suggested by the public along with names that reflect the diversity of the three nations.

From 1st September, the first storm to impact the UK, Ireland and/or the Netherlands will be named ‘Aiden’, while the second storm will be ‘Bella’. As in previous years, Q, U, X, Y and Z will not be used, to comply with the international storm naming conventions.

A-Z of storm names for 2020-21 

  • A: Aiden 
  • B: Bella
  • C: Christoph
  • D: Darcy
  • E: Evert (Eh-vert)
  • F: Fleur
  • G: Gavin
  • H: Heulwen (Hail-wen)
  • I: Iain
  • J: Julia
  • K: Klaas (Klaa-s)
  • L: Lilah (Ly-la)
  • M: Minne (Minn-eh)
  • N: Naia (N-eye-a)
  • O: Oscar
  • P: Phoebe
  • R: Ravi
  • S: Saidhbhin (Sigh-veen)
  • T: Tobias
  • V: Veronica
  • W: Wilson
  • Q, U, X, Y and Z are not included to ensure consistency with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention and storm naming in the North Atlantic 

The west Europe group

Last year the Met Office and Met Éireann welcomed KNMI - the national weather forecasting service in the Netherlands - to the west Europe group.  Other European countries to name impactful storms include France, Spain and Portugal in south-west Europe and Sweden, Norway and Denmark in northern Europe.

Will Lang, Head of the National Severe Weather Warning Service at the Met Office, said: “We are now entering our sixth year of the Name our Storms campaign and we look forward to working closely with our colleagues in Ireland and the Netherlands once again, continuing to raise awareness of the potential impacts of severe weather in order to keep people across our nations safe. 

The impact of storms

“The impacts from Storm Ciara and Dennis earlier this year are still fresh in many people's minds and although it’s too early to anticipate what weather this autumn and winter will bring, we are prepared with a new list of names to help raise awareness of severe weather before it hits.”

Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann, said: “This summer has closed with Storms Ellen and Francis bringing wet and windy weather to our shores.  As we begin the new storm season for 2020-21, Met Éireann forecasters look forward to working in close co-operation with our colleagues in the UK and Netherlands by continuing to provide a clear and consistent message to the public, encouraging people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property at times of severe weather.”

The benefits of collaboration

Gerard van der Steenhoven, Director General at Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) said: “We gladly continue our collaboration with the UK Met Office and Met Éireann on storm forecasting. As storms are not confined to national borders, it makes a lot of sense to give common names to such extreme weather events. As many people often travel between our countries, the use of common names will make it a lot easier for them to appreciate the hazards represented by a large storm system. For us at KNMI, it is a great privilege and advantage to work in close co-operation with our colleagues from Ireland and the UK in the communication about storms.”

Stay connected

To find out more about Name our Storms you can visit the Met Office Storm Centre website or contact Met Office Press Office on 01392 886655 or email [email protected].