Idris, Saoirse and Gareth among storms set to blow in this year

On the list of storm names for 2018/2019 is Idris, Saoirse and Gareth Credit: PA

A list of 21 storm names for the coming season has been announced, which includes Idris, Saoirse and Gareth.

It comes as Storm Ali heads towards the UK bearing 75mph winds.

This is the fourth year the Met Office and Met Éireann, the meteorological service in the Irish Republic, have jointly run the ‘Name our Storms’ scheme.

Also on the list of storm names for 2018/2019 announced by the Met Office and Met Eireann are Ali, Bronagh, Callum and Deirdre, while a particularly stormy winter could see storms Tristan, Violet and Wyn batter the UK and Ireland.

The scheme was first introduced in 2015, as national weather providers aim to raise awareness of severe conditions before they hit the country.

The season’s names have been compiled from a list of submissions by the public, choosing some of the most popular names and also selecting those which reflect the nations, culture and diversity of the UK and Ireland.

This year the first storm gets a male name, Ali, followed by an alternating pattern of female and male names which was established by the US National Hurricane Centre in the 1970s.

Waves crash against the sea wall at Cromer in Norfolk after Storm Aileen brought howling gusts and heavy showers Credit: Joe Giddens/PA

The alphabetical list of names skips Q, U, X, Y and Z to comply with international storm-naming conventions.

Derrick Ryall, head of public weather services at the Met Office, said: “Naming storms has been proved to raise awareness of severe weather in the UK, providing a consistent message to the public and crucially prompting people to take action to prevent harm to themselves or to their property.”

Polling has found almost 80% of people think giving storms a name was useful in making them aware the severe weather may have more impact than normal, while 63% believe it is useful in letting them know to take action.

Storm Hector brought trees down in Co Kildare Credit: Niall Carson/PA

The 2017-2018 season kicked off with Storm Aileen, the first of 10 severe weather events to be named in the past year, and ended with Hector earlier this summer.

Evelyn Cusack, head of forecasting at Met Eireann, said: “The last 12 months have seen some extreme weather around the globe as well as here at home.

“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 may throw at us.

“As before, Met Eireann forecasters will work in close co-operation with our colleagues from the Met Office in the UK to keep all the peoples of these islands warned of impending severe weather.”

The full list of storm names for 2018/2019 is: Ali, Bronagh, Callum, Deirdre, Erik, Freya, Gareth, Hannah, Idris, Jane, Kevin, Lily, Max, Niamh, Oliver, Peggy, Ross, Saoirse, Tristan, Violet and Wyn.