Storm Names 2016 - Who is next?

The Met Office together with Met Eireann recently had the public make name suggestions as part of a pilot project to name wind storms that have the potential to cause “substantial” impact on the UK or Ireland.

Derrick Ryall, head of the public weather service at the Met Office, said: “We have seen how naming storms elsewhere in the world raises awareness of severe weather before it strikes.”

The Met Office received thousands of responses by email and social media, but to maintain consistency with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention, there are no names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z.

Some people suggested themes: leaf shaker, leaf stripper, branch wobbler, trunk trembler, root ripper, armageddon!

There were lots of votes for using tree and flower names such as: Alder, Blackthorn, Cypress, Ivy, Juniper, Oak, Poplar, Yew.

Greek Gods and Goddesses were also popular along with characters from Shakespeare’s plays and other literature: Prospero, Zeus, Apollo, Puck, Beowulf, Hannibal, Macbeth.

Cartoon and film characters also featured in the ideas along with using colours: Zebedee, Bilbo, Baldrick, Smaug, Kraken.

But here is the final list of names for autumn and winter 2015/16:

A: Abigail

B: Barney

C: Clodagh

D: Desmond

E: Eva

F: Frank

G: Gertrude

H: Henry

I: Imogen

J: Jake

K: Katie

L: Lawrence

M: Mary

N: Nigel

O: Orla

P: Phil

R: Rhonda

S: Steve

T: Tegan

V: Vernon

W: Wendy