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Met Éireann, together with the UK Met Office and KNMI, has announced the 21 names for the new storm season, including four names honouring historically significant figures in Irish meteorology. The announcement coincided with a review of the 2025/26 season, which saw five named storms including Amy, Claudia, Bram, Chandra, and Dave, each bringing notable wind, rain, or pressure extremes across Ireland.
Met Éireann, in partnership with the UK Met Office and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute ( KNMI), has revealed the 21 names selected for the upcoming storm season.
The list includes Austen, Boelo, Chloe, and Dano, along with several other culturally and historically significant choices. Among the Irish names, four were selected to honour important figures in the history of the Irish Meteorological Service, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. The historically significant names include Austen, Evelyn, Kilian, and Miriam, while Heather, Laoise, and Phelim were chosen from a longlist of nominations submitted during a public naming campaign held last year.
Eoin Sherlock, Head of the Forecasting Division at Met Éireann, explained that naming storms serves an important practical purpose. He noted that naming makes it significantly easier for the public to follow important weather updates and safety-related information, a claim supported by increased traffic to the Met Éireann website and social media channels during named storm events.
Sherlock highlighted that this season's list pays tribute to key contributors to the service's history, including Austen Nagle, the first director of the service appointed in 1936, and Miriam Lyons, the first woman to hold an operational role as a meteorological officer. Former Head of Forecasting Evelyn Cusack clarified that the storm name was not chosen to honour her personally, but rather to recognise Evelyn Murphy, whom she described as a trailblazer in Irish meteorology.
The 2025/26 storm season, which is now concluding, included five named storms that affected Ireland between October 2025 and April 2026. The season began with Storm Amy in October, followed by Claudia in November, Bram in December, Chandra in January, and finally Dave in April. Met Éireann characterised the season as one dominated by strong Atlantic cyclones, with each storm bringing distinct and notable weather conditions.
Storm Amy was the most severe wind event of the season, producing violent storm force sustained winds of 111 km/h and powerful gusts reaching 148 km/h at Malin Head. Storm Claudia, while less severe in terms of wind, became the wettest event, generating a daily rainfall total of 66.9 mm at Johnstown Castle and producing the highest individual wave of the season at 21.1 metres, recorded at Buoy M5 off the south Wexford coast.
Storm Bram, which struck in December, brought high seas and powerful waves that battered the Irish coast, dramatically affecting landmarks such as the Poolbeg Lighthouse in Dublin. Storm Chandra, arriving in January, was recorded as the deepest storm of the season, with mean sea level pressure falling to 958.4 hPa. Chandra also produced strong gusts of 130 km/h at Malin Head, making it the second strongest wind event of the season after Amy.
The season concluded with Storm Dave in early April, which brought storm force winds, gusts reaching 111 km/h, and a daily rainfall total of 38.6 mm. Together, these five storms highlighted the value of the joint naming system, which helps authorities and the public communicate more effectively about severe weather threats across Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands
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