British and Irish met offices want your help to name storms

<> on December 10, 2014 in UNSPECIFIED, United Kingdom.

HAVE you ever fancied having a storm named after yourself? Well now is your chance.

The Met offices in Britain and Ireland are teaming up to offer people in both countries the opportunity to name the storms heading into the autumn-winter season.

Until now, storms have been nameless in Britain and Ireland but Met Éireann and the Met Office in Britain hope that having one name for a storm could raise awareness about their dangers.

Derrick Ryall, head of the public weather service at the Met Office, said: “The aim of this pilot is to provide a single authoritative naming system for the storms that affect UK and Ireland.

“We have seen how naming storms elsewhere in the world raises awareness of severe weather before it strikes.

“We hope that naming storms in line with the official severe weather warnings here will do the same and ensure everyone can keep themselves, their property and businesses safe and protected at times of severe weather.”

Nominating a name couldn’t be easier – with the offices accepting submissions on Facebook, Twitter and via email.

Tweeting @metoffice or @MetEireann using the hashtag #nameourstorms will get your suggestion in.

Of course, as news broke of the storm-naming, Twitter users were keen to share their thoughts on the best options.