Wilbert, Doris and Kamil picked as UK storm names by Met Office

Wilbert may be windy, Robert rainy and Susan snowy under plans by the Met Office and Met Eireann to name storms this winter.

They are among 21 names which will be given to the weather systems which have the most potential to cause problems across the UK and Ireland.

Doris, Ivor and Gabriel are also on the list, which forecasters have compiled from more than 10,000 suggestions which were submitted by the public.

The UK and Ireland first began naming storms in October 2015.

Since then there have been 11 named storms which have caused six deaths and more than £1bn worth of damage.

Among the most destructive was Storm Desmond, which caused widespread flooding across Cumbria, Lancashire and the Scottish borders in early December 2015.

Just two weeks later Storm Eva caused further flooding in many of the same areas.

Sky News weather presenter Kirsty McCabe said: "Giving a wind storm a name raises awareness, it gives the storm personality and ultimately helps people prepare for severe weather.

"The problem comes with deciding which wind storms merit a name.

"It's not as straightforward as tropical storms and hurricanes.

"If a storm gets named but ends up not having much impact then people might accuse forecasters of crying wolf and not paying attention to future storms."

The new storm naming season begins on 1 October and continues until the end of September 2017.  

The names which will be used for  2016/17 are Angus, Barbara, Conor, Doris, Ewan, Fleur, Gabriel, Holly, Ivor, Jacqui, Kamil, Louise, Malcolm, Natalie, Oisin, Penelope, Robert, Susan, Thomas, Valerie and Wilbert.

Following the convention used for naming hurricanes in the United States the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used.

The US National Weather Service has named tropical cyclones since the 1950s. Names of particularly destructive storms are retired.

Andrew, Mitch, Katrina and Sandy are among the names which are currently not used for hurricanes.