European storm naming conventions and lists

Meteorological services across various European regions have released official storm naming lists for the upcoming weather seasons.

In Southwest Europe, a collaborative group including services from Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Andorra established a list of 21 names to be used for high-impact phenomena triggering orange or red weather warnings. Simultaneously, the UK and Ireland finalized lists through the Met Office and Met Éireann, incorporating names that honor meteorological pioneers and community members.

In the East Mediterranean, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS), in coordination with Cyprus and Israel, has finalized the naming list for extreme weather systems spanning October 2026 through September 2027. Operating as the ‘Eastern Mediterranean Team’, these agencies utilize numerical weather models and observational data to assign names to anticipated intense phenomena. This coordination aims to facilitate accurate public warnings via mass media and social networks to assist emergency response agencies.

The 24 names selected for this period reflect the linguistic identity of the participating countries using Latin characters. The list includes names such as Argos, Bar, Chabrias, Dorothea, Eitan, Filippa, Glafkos, Hadar, Ikaros, Jason, Kedem, Laskarina, Morfeas, Nadia, Odysseas, Persefoni, Roxani, Sisyfos, Tamar, Uranos, Vergina, Wasim, Xanthe, and Ypnos. This regional effort follows the broader European initiative to establish common communication rules for extreme weather events through the European Network of National Meteorological Services (EUMETNET).