Austen, Evelyn, Kilian and Miriam are among the seven storm names which Met Éireann nominated for the 21 names released for 2026/2027.
Heather, Laoise and Phelim were also nominated by Met Éireann, drawn from a public campaign run last year.
The choice of Evelyn pays tribute to two influential women in Irish meteorological history to mark the service’s 90th anniversary.
Evelyn Murphy was the first woman to work as a meteorologist in Met Éireann and the first woman meteorologist to present the forecast on RTÉ television in 1983.
She went on to head the Marine Unit and led the creation of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network from 2000 with the launch of Marine Buoy 1 (M1). The network provides critical observational information for weather forecasts including storms.
Evelyn Cusack was the first female head of forecasting at Met Éireann, and one of the longest-serving forecasters on RTÉ television. She spoke to Afloat’s Wavelengths shortly before her retirement in 2023.
In an interview with RTÉ News, Cusack said she had mixed feelings about being named after a storm which could cause disruption and damage.
The full 2026/27 list is :
Austen, Boelo, Chloe, Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn, Heather, Ivy, Jade, Kilian, Laoise, Miriam, Nicola, Olaf, Phelim, Ruban, Shaun, Theo, Vesna, Wende.
Letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, which is in line with the US National Hurricane Center naming convention.
Met Éireann head of forecasting Eoin Sherlock said that “2026 marks the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Irish Meteorological Service.”
“We are proud to be able to recognise some of the significant contributors to our history in the list of storm names this year, such as the first director of the service in 1936, Austen Nagle, and the first woman to hold an operational role as a meteorological officer, Miriam Lyons,”he said.
“As we approach the start of the new storm season, we take the opportunity to encourage to the public to engage with relevant forecasts and safety information during storms and all other extreme weather events,”he added.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming programme, and they were joined by the Netherland’s KNMI in 2019.
Listen to the Afloat/Wavelengths interview with Evelyn Cusack in 2023 here
