Names for winter storms 2026/2027 revealed by Met Office
Austen, Boelo and Chloe will be the first named storms of this winter, meteorologists revealed, after more than 40,000 suggestions were submitted by the public.
The UK’s Met Office, in partnership with Ireland’s Met Eireann and the Dutch national weather forecasting service KNMI, has announced the list of storm names for the 2026/27 season, with many people putting forward suggestions in tribute to loved ones and favourite pets.
People submitted names in honour of a five-year-old weather enthusiast, a much-loved Labrador puppy, meteorological pioneers and Shaun the Sheep from the popular animation Wallace and Gromit.
But the Met Office also said the purpose of naming storms is also serious as it helps people take notice, prepare and stay safe in severe weather.
The organisations have been naming storms since 2015, with the list running from early September to the following August.
It coincides with the start of autumn when the likelihood of low-pressure systems and the potential for storms severe enough to be named increases.
In the last year, four names were used from the list, reaching the letter D with Storm Dave in April 1, although the UK also saw impacts from a further three storms named by other European meteorological services – Storms Benjamin, Claudia and Goretti.
Under naming conventions used for storms in the North Atlantic, the list runs alphabetically, missing out Q, U, X, Y and Z.
The third name in this year’s list, Chloe, was selected by the Met Office after being put forward more than 120 times, including by the mother of a five-year weather enthusiast who is “fascinated by the weather” but can also “create a storm by herself” when she is tired.
The name Finn was suggested for a two-year-old boy described by his family as “wild and a force to be reckoned with”, while Ivy was nominated in honour of a nine-month-old Labrador puppy affectionately known as “the absolute destructor”.
Nicola was put forward as a tribute to a mother who has “weathered many a storm and only come out stronger”, while Theo was inspired by a cat who would hide before thunderstorms, leading his owner to joke that he could predict the weather.
Shaun also joined the list following a public vote that was run as part of a collaboration with the British animation studio Aardman, which was behind the beloved show Wallace and Gromit.
The aim of the collaboration was to reach new audiences and encourage conversations on preparedness for severe weather by combining the Met Office’s forecasting expertise with Aardman’s storytelling.
To mark its 90th anniversary, Met Eireann selected names that celebrate figures from its history, including Austen, in honour of Austen Nagle, the first director of the Irish Meteorological Service and Evelyn Murphy, the first woman to present the weather on Ireland’s national public service broadcaster RTE.
Meanwhile, KNMI picked names from more than 3,000 suggestions submitted by the public, including Boelo – a nearly extinct name from the east Groningen region that has been passed down through the nominator’s family for generations.