Met Éireann, along with the Met Office and KNMI – the national weather services of the UK and Netherlands, have today released the new list of storm names for the 2021-22 storm season.
Since 2015 Met Éireann and the Met Office have been working together on the Storm Names partnership to help raise awareness of the potential impacts of severe weather and were joined by KMNI in 2019.
Similar to previous years, each weather service has contributed names reflective of their nation and culture, mainly suggested by members of the public. Irish names that have made it on to this year’s list include Barra (Finbarr), Méabh, Pól and Seán. In a recent public vote Diarmuid was put to a vote along with Duncan, Dudley and Dafydd… and Dudley was the winner, perhaps reflective of the magic of Harry Potter.
Storm names for 2021-22 in partnership with UK Met Office and KNMI in the Netherlands. Accessible list below
Met Éireann’s Head of Forecasting, Evelyn Cusack said:
“Last winter was relatively quiet with only one storm named by Met Éireann, Storm Aiden at Halloween. We are now preparing for the autumn and winter months ahead with a new list of storm names for 2021-22 and for whatever weather may come to our shores.
“Once again Met Éireann will continue to work with our national weather service colleagues in the UK and Netherlands, by continuing 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.”
Evelyn continued:
“Also this month we are delighted to see the launch of our new audio weather forecasts, where people can listen to the latest forecast delivered by our team of Met Éireann forecasters.”
Will Lang, Head of the National Severe Weather Warning Service at the Met Office, said:
“This is now the seventh year of us naming storms with our European partners and we look forward to continuing to work together with them to raise awareness around the impacts of severe weather in order to help keep people from all nations safe.
“We’re all aware of some of the severe weather that has been witnessed across Europe and globally in recent months and we work to use any tool at our disposal to ensure the public is informed of potential risks, and naming storms is just one way we do that.”
Gerard van der Steenhoven, Director General at KNMI, said:
“Storms are not confined to national borders, it makes a lot of sense to give common names to such extreme weather events. We gladly continue our collaboration with the UK Met Office and Met Éireann on storm forecasting. 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. All people exposed to such impeding extreme weather events will benefit.”
For more information on Storm Names please visit the Met Éireann Storm Centre on our website.
Is Our Weather Getting Worse?
There is heightened awareness now of weather warnings through social media as well as through traditional Radio and TV. This awareness has been catapulted into the public arena by the colour coding of warnings and this storm naming partnership.
Rainfall across Ireland has increased by about 6% in the last 30 years which is consistent with a warmer atmosphere being able to hold more moisture. Also in a warming world whilst the frequency of north Atlantic cyclones may be expected to reduce somewhat, there may be an increase in the number of extreme storms impacting Ireland, resulting in greater impacts. Met Éireann’s work on Climate Change
Met Éireann’s Warning Services
The Weather Warning page and the Met Éireann app has a 3-day tab map displaying all warnings, which could be issued up to 3 days ahead. This allows clearer communication and understanding of the complex weather scenarios which can affect Ireland, especially in winter.
On our app you can subscribe to receive Smartphone push notifications for Met Éireann weather warnings for a chosen county(s). We also provide a weather warnings email sign-up service, available via the website warnings page.
The warnings map on our website and app also displays weather warnings for Northern Ireland, whenever they are issued by UK Met Office. This provides a clear, authoritative one-stop shop for easy and reliable access to the latest weather warnings for the Island of Ireland.
The availability of 3-day weather warnings is possible due to a significant upgrade to the ensemble forecast system used to help predict the weather.
New Weather Forecast Podcast
We just launched a new daily audio weather forecast – available as a podcast – recorded by our weather forecasters in Met Éireann. Search Weather Forecast from Met Éireann on your podcast player – it’s available now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and more.
The 2021/22 Storm Names are: Arwen, Barra, Corrie, Dudley, Eunice, Franklin, Gladys, Herman, Imani, Jack, Kim, Logan, Méabh, Nasim, Olwen, Pól, Ruby, Seán, Tineke, Vergil, Willemien.