An international committee of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has for years maintained and updated the names of storms and tropical cyclones that can form in the Atlantic during the season that begins on 1 June and ends on 30 November.

Since 1953, their respective lists have been compiled by the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) and this time they are Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy.

The WMO also confirmed that last April four of the original designations had to be withdrawn and replaced by Beryl, Helene, Milton and John, as they were particularly destructive and deadly.

Hurricane Beryl was the first Category 5 (maximum) hurricane recorded in the Atlantic basin in July 2024, impacting the Texas Gulf Coast as a Scale 1 storm and leaving millions of people without power for days during the course of the sweltering Texas summer.

Meanwhile, Helene and Milton caused catastrophic damage in the southeastern United States, including more than 200 deaths, while John caused deadly and prolonged flooding in the Mexican state of Guerrero.