Met Eireann releases lists of storms to hit Ireland this year

By Kim O'Leary

As Hurricane Irma wreaks havoc and destruction in the U.S., Ireland will be tested by much smaller storms this Winter, many of which have been named by the Irish public.

Storms Aileen, Iona and Larry could be blowing into the UK and Ireland over the next few months, bring heavy winds and rain across the country.

They are among the names which will be given to storms over the coming year, under a scheme to give names to the strongest weather systems by the Met Office and Met Eireann.

The scheme aims to raise awareness of severe weather, and prompt people to take action to prevent harm to themselves and their property.

A storm is named when it is deemed to have the potential to cause medium or high impacts on the UK and/or Ireland.

The first storm of the year will be female and will be named ‘Aileen’, the gender of the first storm alternates each year and follows Angus in the 2016-17 season.

Speaking to Independent.ie, Gerald Fleming, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann, said: "Last winter was a very quiet one weather-wise and we only worked our way through five named storms, from Angus to Ewan. 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 they may throw at us."