Storm Prince Andrew and Elon Gust among storm names suggested to Met Office
Keir Stormer, Dame Judi Drench, Storm Prince Andrew and Elon Gust are among the storm names suggested to the Met Office.
Members of the public submitted thousands of suggestions, including Bruce Spring Storm, David Blowy, Benjamin Netanyahu, Stormzy, Storm-y Daniels and Aaaaaaagh.
Suggestions also included Stormy McStormFace, Blowy McBlowFace, Cloudy McCloudFace, and Rainy McRainFace.
A Met Office spokesman said: “We love the variety of names submitted and having more people involved in choosing names helps raise awareness.
“Some of the names are really clever and funny, and we love to see them suggested. But we’ve never been able to use comedic names for our storms because, at the core of it, naming storms has an important safety purpose.”
In 2015, the Met Office launched its scheme to allow the public to submit storm names for consideration. A list of around 20 names is being compiled jointly by the Met Office, the Irish weather service Met Éireann and the Netherlands’ KNMI.
More than 50,000 suggestions have been submitted to weather agencies for the 2025/2026 season. The 21 names chosen included Amy, Bram, Chandra, Dave, Eddie, Fionnuala, Gerard, Hannah, Isla, Janna, Kasia, Lilith, Marty, Nico, Oscar, Patrick, Ruby, Stevie, Tadhg, Violet and Wubbo.
The list runs from the beginning of September to the end of August, coinciding with the beginning of autumn and the end of summer.
A freedom of information request submitted to the forecaster revealed more than 27,000 names suggested by the public.
More than 600 of the recommendations focused on environmental concerns; BPocalypse targeted oil companies such as Shell-shocked, Exxonstentialthreat, Oily McOilFace, Fossily McFuelface and Emissions Impossible.
The storms are named in collaboration with Met Éireann and KNMI. These are named when they are predicted to cause moderate or high levels of effects.
A Met Office spokesman said: “We know naming storms works, it helps raise awareness of their impact and keep people safe and we want the names to be memorable.”
“Some years we have a different theme when choosing names, one year we chose names based on the stories behind them, another time we chose names to honor emergency responders.
“Our final elections this year were a mix of the most popular candidates and some with humorous connotations, like a snoring husband and a little girl whirling around like a tornado.”
In addition to Storm Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, named after the village in Wales, Hail Yes, It’s About Time We Need Some Rain, Whiz Lightning, Darth Vapour, Arnold Stormneggar, Harristorm Ford and Fifty Shades of Rain were also among the suggestions.
