The list includes a number of characteristically British and Irish names, including Clodagh, Desmond, Gertrude, Nigel, Orla and Steve, reports Wired.
In line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming scheme, which inspired the project, the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z will not be used, so you’ll be disappointed if you were hoping for storms called Xena or Xavier. The alphabetic restriction is to ensure that offical storm naming in the Atlantic remains consistent.
The Met Office said its call for suggestions “received thousands of responses by email, through the Met Office Facebook pages and @metoffice on Twitter”. The current batch of names is set to cover storms this autumn and winter. A new round of naming is presumably to follow in the new year, assuming the current pilot scheme is a success.
