Here’s the full list of Met Office storm names 2020 - including ones that have already hit the UK

The UK has already seen a few storm names ticked off of the Met Office’s official list so far this year, but what are the other names lined up for the rest of 2020? (Photo: Shutterstock)The UK has already seen a few storm names ticked off of the Met Office’s official list so far this year, but what are the other names lined up for the rest of 2020? (Photo: Shutterstock)
The UK has already seen a few storm names ticked off of the Met Office’s official list so far this year, but what are the other names lined up for the rest of 2020? (Photo: Shutterstock)

The UK has already seen a few storm names ticked off of the Met Office’s official list so far this year, but what are the other names lined up for the rest of 2020?

Here’s everything you need to know.

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What are the storm names for 2020?

The Name our Storms campaign was launched last year to raise awareness of the potential impact of severe weather in Britain and Ireland before it hits.

Last year, the Met Office and Irish weather service Met Éireann, along with KNMI (the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute), received thousands of suggestions from the public after asking people to send in ideas for future storm names.

Here are the storm names for 2020 that were compiled from the list:

  • Brendan - date of impact: 13 - 14 January 2020
  • Ciara - date of impact: 8 - 9 February 2020
  • Dennis - date of impact: 5 - 16 February 2020
  • Jorge (named by AEMet) date of impact: 28 February - 1 March 2020
  • Ellen - date of impact: 19 - 20 August 2020
  • Francis - date of impact - present
  • Gerda
  • Hugh
  • Iris
  • Jan
  • Kitty
  • Liam
  • Maura
  • Noah
  • Olivia
  • Piet
  • Róisín
  • Samir
  • Tara
  • Vince
  • Willow

Why are some letters missing?

The letters Q, U, Y, Z and X are not included in the list.

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This is to ensure the list is in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention so that consistency can be maintained for national storm names in the North Atlantic.

The Met Office explains that the criteria it uses for naming storms is based on the National Severe Weather Warnings service.

This is based on a combination of both the impact the weather may have, and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.

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A storm will be named when it has the potential to cause an amber or red warning, but other weather types will also be considered, specifically rain, if its impact could lead to flooding as advised by the Environment Agency, SEPA and Natural Resources Wales flood warnings.