Storm names for the coming year have been announced by the Met Office today.
The yearly list is normally chosen by meteorologists in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands - but this time, the British public have had their say on the names chosen.
More than 10,000 submissions were made for this year’s season, which runs from today until August 2022.
Many of the names chosen have recognised friends, family and even pet names.
One of the 21 potential storm names includes Logan, which is of Scottish origin. The name was nominated by several parents and grandparents, including a minion of a grandson who ‘runs through the house like a tornado’ and one who is ‘as quick as lightning’ when playing as a goalkeeper.
The first storm that will be named will be Arwen, which is believed to be of Welsh origin and was popularised by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of Rings series of books.
While the names of storms can be light-hearted, the impacts of them can be severe.
Names can be selected on a range of criteria, including whether it is being used by other storm naming groups, whether there have been significant impacts from previous storms with the same name and if it is a name that has already been used in recent years by the group.
Storms are named by the group when they are deemed to cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands.
In addition to strong winds, impacts from rain and snow will also be considered in the name process.
The naming system has now entered its seventh year and is designed to help the media and public better communicate the impacts of potential severe weather events.
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. We know naming storms helps raise awareness of the impacts of severe weather and ensures clarity for the public when they need it most.”
The full list of storm names for the coming year include:
- Arwen
- Barra
- Corrie
- Dudley
- Eunice
- Franklin
- Gladys
- Herman
- Imani
- Jack
- Kim
- Logan
- Méabh
- Nasim
- Olwen
- Pól
- Ruby
- Sean
- Tineke
- Vergil
- Willemien
