BRENDA, Gerda, Noah and Ciara could be blowing into the UK and Ireland over the next few months.

Announced by the Met Office and Met Éireann, forecasters say the naming of storms helps increase awareness of severe weather in the UK.

It's used to prompt people to take action to prevent harm to themselves and their property.

The first storm of the 2018 to 2019 season will be named Atiyah, followed by Brendan, Ciara and then Dennis.

Here is the full list of names

The Argus:

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

The names for the next year have once again been compiled using suggestions submitted by the public combined with names proposed to Met Éireann.

As in previous years, Q; U; X; Y and Z are not used to comply with international storm naming conventions.

Storms will be named for weather systems which are likely to see an Amber or Red warning issued by Met Éireann and/or the Met Office’s National Severe Weather Warning Service.

Are we having more storms?

The Met Office says: "Stormy weather is not unusual in the winter and we only need to go back to the winter of 2013-14 to see a similarly stormy winter. Overall, the period from mid-December 2013 to mid-February 2014 saw at least 12 major winter storms, and, when considered overall, this was the stormiest period of weather the UK has experienced for at least 20 years.

"We have seen comparable or more severe storms in recent years, including 3 January 2012 and 8 December 2011, each of which caused widespread impacts."