The Met Office and its partners have revealed the storm naming list for the 2026/27 season, drawn from tens of thousands of public suggestions. The first three names on this year's list are Austen, Boelo and Chloe.
Now entering its twelfth year, the storm-naming scheme has been helping to communicate the risks of severe weather since 2015, by providing a clear and consistent reference point for forecasts and warnings when significant impacts are expected.
"For more than a decade, storm naming has helped us communicate the risks from severe weather more effectively," said Holly Clements, the Met Office's head of warnings and guidance. "A named storm provides a clear focus for forecasts and warnings, helping more people understand the potential impacts and take action to protect themselves, their families and their property."
More than 40,000 names were submitted to the Met Office by members of the public last year, and this year's list draws on those suggestions, reflecting both popular choices and the personal stories behind them.
Chloe was selected after being nominated more than 130 times. Other names on the list were put forward as tributes to family members and pets, alongside names chosen to celebrate meteorological heritage.
To mark its 90th anniversary, Met Eireann, the Irish national meteorological service, selected names celebrating 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 RTE, Ireland's national public service broadcaster.
KNMI, the Dutch national meteorological service, picked names from more than 3,000 suggestions submitted by the public, including Boelo, a nearly extinct name from the East Groningen region that had been passed down through the nominator's family for generations.
Among this year's most recognisable entries is Shaun, chosen by the public following a vote run as part of a collaboration with the animation studio Aardman, intended to reach new audiences and encourage conversations about severe weather preparedness.
Several factors are considered before a name makes the list, including how difficult it might be to pronounce, whether it has different meanings across the three countries, whether it is connected to a significant public figure, and whether it could be considered controversial in any way.
Storms are named by the group when they have the potential to cause medium or high impacts in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, which typically means an amber or red warning is expected at some point during the event. Strong winds remain the primary consideration, although storms may also be named when significant impacts are expected from rain or snow.
The evidence that naming works is reasonably direct. After Storm Goretti in January 2026, post-event surveys suggested that 93% of people within the amber warning area were aware of the warnings, and 88% of them took action, such as staying in, not driving and shopping earlier. "We know that naming storms makes it easier for people to track important and up-to-date forecast and safety-related information," said Eoin Sherlock, head of forecasting division at Met Eireann.
One line in the announcement is worth reading carefully. As in previous years, the list uses 21 names and excludes certain letters to align with international storm-naming conventions. Three national meteorological services have therefore issued exactly 21 names, and the season they cover is twelve months long.
The implication is administrative rather than meteorological. A storm is named when it meets the published threshold. Once the 21st name has been issued, the threshold can still be met. The name cannot. The list is not a forecast of how many storms there will be; it is a schedule of how many can be processed.
The allocation was set by public competition. More than 40,000 names were offered and 21 were accepted, an acceptance rate of roughly one in 1,900. Northern Europe's severe weather is now among the most selective application processes in the region.
Orthography handles the remainder of the rationing. Certain letters are excluded to align with international convention, which means that a number of this winter's storms will be held back not by high pressure but by spelling.
The Department of Unnecessary Research has one question for the three services. A weather system that arrives after the 21st name, meets every published criterion for naming, and is simply not named: what is it?