By naming the storm Ciaran, did the British National Meteorological Service (Met Office) know that it was going to create quite a pronunciation challenge on the other side of the Channel? Not very comfortable in the language of Shakespeare, the French face in this specific case a greater difficulty: Gaelic.
Before hitting France, the storm first hit the south of Ireland, to which, in accordance with practice, the right to name the meteorological phenomenon fell. The Met Office opted for Ciaran, as did Ciaran Fearon, a civil servant stationed at the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. He is particularly a specialist in river levels and coastal flooding, specifies the BBC.
Météo-France lifts red alerts
To help pronounce this Gaelic first name, what could be better than an Irish tutorial? Questioned by our journalist Philippe Berrythe Irish colleague Mark Rodden was not asked to give his advice. ” It’s pronounced [Kiir-awn], a bit like lawn in English, confided the journalist. In Gaelic, this first name means “little dark one” and refers to little boys with dark hair. Its English version, Kieran, is spelled and pronounced differently, specifies our colleague.
Several departments were particularly monitored by Météo-France last night and this Thursday morning (Finistère, Manche, Côtes-d’Armor), but all red alerts have been lifted. Strong winds are expected in Pas-de-Calais.