Storms Peggy and Callum: The Met Office is naming bad weather again
Peggy, Max and Bronagh might not sound like the most intimidating of names, but you might be scared to meet one in bad weather – they’re some of the epithets set to grace this year’s mega storms.
The first storm to arrive this year will be dubbed Ali, as the Met Office and Republic of Ireland meteorological service Met Éireann reveal the line up of names for storms occurring in 2018/19.
The second storm of 2018/19 will be called Bronagh, with Irish names counting for five of the 21 names being lined up to help Brits know who to blame for travel chaos and sudden outages from wrecked power lines.
It’s the fourth year running the meteorological offices have decided to name storms, with research finding it makes people likelier to remember the named storm is likely to have a worse impact than a regular thundercloud.
Here’s the full list of names for the storms set to lash our coasts, derail our trains and ruin our commutes in the coming months:
| Ali |
| Bronagh |
| Callum |
| Deirdre |
| Erik |
| Freya |
| Gareth |
| Hannah |
| Idris |
| Jane |
| Kevin |
| Lily |
| Max |
| Niamh |
| Oliver |
| Peggy |
| Ross |
| Saoirse |
| Tristan |
| Violet |
| Wyn |
The names were picked from a list of names suggested by the public, a mix of popular names and those that reflect the nations and culture of the UK.
That said, if Oliver creates some real damage, that might see the name grow substantially less popular with parents-to-be.
Evelyn Cusack, head of forecasting at Met Éireann, said: “The last 12 months have seen some extreme weather around the globe as well as here at home. While it is too early to say whether the coming winter will be a stormy one or a quiet one we are prepared with a whole new set of 21 names for whatever nature may throw at us.
“As before, Met Éireann forecasters will work in close co-operation with our colleagues from the Met Office in the UK to keep all the peoples of these islands warned of impending severe weather."
Last year Storm Hector battered the UK with wind speeds of around 100mph, while Storm Caroline ripped across parts of Scotland in December. A total of eight storms occurred over 10 months in 2017/18.