Dutch weather presenters names in new KNMI storm names list for 2023-2024

The KNMI and their counterparts in the UK and Ireland announced their 2023-2024 list of storm names. The first storm of the season will get the Irish name Agnes, followed by the Dutch name Babet. The Dutch meteorological institute has been naming storms with its English and Irish counterparts since 2019 to draw people’s attention to dangerous weather.

Storms for which the KNMI issues a code orange or red strong winds warning, and in some cases a code yellow, get a name. For the 2023-2024 season, the Dutch contributions are Babet, Elin, Gerrit, Henk, Olga, Piet and Walid.

In October 2022, the KNMI invited visitors during its open day to suggest names for storms. One visitor, Babet, suggested her own name, explaining, “I was born during a storm.” Another visitor said they had a “tempestuous” granddaughter called Elin.

Some of the names serve as references to Dutch weather presenters. For instance, ‘Gerrit’ is for Gerrit Hiemstra, who is retiring after 25 years as a weather presenter on NOS, and ‘Piet’ is for Piet Paulusma, a weather presenter who passed away in March 2022.

Since 2015, the British Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann have been collaborating on naming storms. The KNMI joined this partnership in 2019. For the first time this season, the tradition of alternating between female and male names for storms was halted. In accordance with international conventions for naming storms, the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used.