Romain Rouillard 6:00 p.m., January 16, 2023

During the night from Sunday to Monday, several departments in the north and west of France were shaken by strong gusts of wind caused by storm Gérard.

A first name is chosen according to a very precise rule which can vary between Europe and the United States.

In some cases, first names can even be banned. 

Gusts of up to 150 km / h on the coast of Brittany and nearly 90,000 homes without electricity in western and central France.

Storm Gérard, which succeeds Efrain, has been draining its share of nuisances since last night, although it has lost intensity in recent hours.

This Monday morning, many Internet users were also amused by the first name attributed to this storm which recalls a famous sketch by Coluche in 1975 called … “Gérard”. 

️ ️ The #Gérard storm is crossing the north of the country this Monday.

It will be followed by #Fien tomorrow Tuesday.



The full point here: https://t.co/u5qB0DduqR



Colored composition - METEOSAT-11


01/16 - 13:30 UTC pic.twitter.com/UMFW6DrmAu

— Meteo-France (@meteofrance) January 16, 2023

However, the naming of storms owes nothing to chance and responds to a precise process, which varies according to the geographical era considered.

In Europe, this task fell to the University of Berlin between 1954 and 2017. It alone had to establish a list of names chosen in alphabetical order and used according to the appearance of storms.

In 2002, it was even possible to pay between 150 euros and 350 euros to suggest a first name to the German university... 

"Communicate more effectively when approaching a violent wind phenomenon"

But since 2017, the various coastal states have regained control over the attribution of first names.

The French, Belgian, Luxembourg, Spanish and Portuguese meteorological services cooperate to bring out lists of 21 first names which must follow an alphabetical order and observe a male and female alternation.

The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands are operating on their side, but coordination between the two groups is planned.

Thus, if a storm first hits the United Kingdom, Ireland or the Netherlands, it will adopt the first name chosen by the meteorological services of these three countries.

The reciprocal also works. 

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Naming a meteorological phenomenon of this magnitude makes it possible to "communicate more effectively when a violent wind phenomenon approaches", estimates Météo France, which recalls that "surveys carried out in the United Kingdom and Ireland, before the implementation in 2016 of their naming system, show that the population is much more attentive to safety instructions when the threat of strong wind is clearly identified as related to a named storm".

It should also be noted that an alternation of female and male first names must be observed. 

In the United States, first names can be banned

In the United States, the names given to Atlantic tropical storms follow a slightly different logic and depend on the NHC (the National Hurricane Center).

The organization must then rely on six lists of 21 first names (for the next six years) established by the WMO, the World Meteorological Organization.

And in the event that - as in 2005 - more than 21 storms are recorded, the following then take the name of the letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta...).

Across the Atlantic, certain first names associated with particularly deadly storms can also be removed from the lists.

This is the case of Katrina, a devastating hurricane that ravaged Florida in 2005 and caused more than 1,800 deaths.

The question may also arise for Irma, the cyclone that caused more than $67 billion in damage in the Caribbean in 2017.