The Met Office has released its official list of storm names for the 2026-27 season, a practice that has been in place since 2015 to help the public prepare for severe weather events. This year's list, which runs from early September to the following August, features a diverse range of names submitted by the public, including tributes to family members, pets, and even the popular animated character Shaun the Sheep.
Austen, Boelo, and Chloe are slated to be the first named storms of the upcoming season. The Met Office, in collaboration with Ireland's Met Éireann and the Dutch meteorological service KNMI, began naming storms to enhance communication about the risks associated with severe weather. This initiative aims to ensure that the public is better informed and can take necessary precautions.
More than 40,000 suggestions were received for the storm names. Among the notable submissions were names inspired by a five-year-old weather enthusiast, a Labrador puppy, meteorological pioneers, and Shaun the Sheep from the "Wallace and Gromit" animations. The collaboration with Aardman, the studio behind Shaun the Sheep, was intended to reach new audiences and encourage discussions about severe weather preparedness.
During the previous year, four storms were named from the list: Amy, Bram, Chandra, and Dave. The UK also experienced impacts from three additional storms named by other European meteorological services, including Benjamin, Claudia, and Goretti. Storm naming conventions for the North Atlantic follow an alphabetical order, omitting the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z.
The name Chloe was selected after being submitted over 120 times, including by the mother of a young child with a keen interest in weather. Other names with personal origins include Finn, suggested for a lively young boy, and Ivy, nominated in honor of a nine-month-old Labrador. Nicola was put forward to commemorate a mother who has overcome significant challenges, and Theo was inspired by a cat that seemed to predict thunderstorms.
Met Éireann selected names to honor figures from its history, such as Austen Nagle, its first director, and Evelyn Murphy, the first woman to present weather on RTE. KNMI chose Boelo, a rare name from the east Groningen region, from thousands of public suggestions.
Storms are named when they are predicted to have a medium or high impact on the UK, Ireland, or the Netherlands, with wind being the primary factor, though rain and snow impacts are also considered. The naming system, according to Met Éireann's Head of Forecasting Division, Eoin Sherlock, significantly aids in tracking important forecast and safety information, as evidenced by website and social media activity during storm events.