The first storm of this season is named Amy, a British entry. Next comes the Irish storm name Bram and then storm Chandra. Chandra was submitted by the KNMI, a suggestion from one of the visitors at our open day last October. Chandra is the name of the Hindu god of the moon.
With the storm names, we raise awareness of dangerous weather before it strikes
Storms are given a name to make people aware of the danger before the severe weather strikes, so everyone can prepare. The name list for the storm season 2025-2026 – which begins today – has been compiled together with the weather services Met Office (United Kingdom) and Met Éireann (Ireland). Each weather service contributes about seven names.
Storms for which the KNMI issues an orange or red code for gusts have been named since 2019. In some cases, a storm can also be named with a yellow code. For the Dutch contributions, visitors of the open day at the KNMI in 2024 were asked.
Eddie, Hannah, Janna, Lilith, Nico and Wubbo
In addition to Chandra, the Netherlands has submitted six names for the new storm season. Eddie was submitted because it is an international name. One of the visitors submitted the name Janna in memory of her grandmother who turned 96 and has endured many storms. The name Lilith means belonging to the night and was submitted because a storm can sometimes cause havoc. Nico comes from the grandson of a former KNMI employee who worked on the weather ship Cumulus between the 1950s and 1970s. Hannah was submitted by a girl with that name who finds storms interesting. And finally, Wubbo was submitted as a tribute to Wubbo Ockels, the first Dutchman to fly into space.