Brief
Met Office details how UK storms are named as a second system approaches
The Met Office outlines the public‑suggested naming scheme, warning thresholds and coordination with European partners.
By Felo News Desk · Published
The UK is preparing for its second named storm of the 2026/27 season, with the Met Office explaining how storms are named and why the current system uses a yellow warning for Storm Austen.
Since 2015 the Met Office has run a scheme that invites public suggestions for storm names, aiming to raise awareness of severe‑weather risks. A name is assigned when a storm is likely to trigger an amber or red weather warning; however, a yellow warning can also prompt naming if the impact is potentially significant but forecast confidence is lower, as with Storm Austen.
The naming list is compiled each year from public submissions and coordinated with Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Dutch KNMI, forming a western‑Europe storm‑naming group. Names are avoided if they are hard to pronounce, have conflicting meanings across countries, or are linked to private companies, public figures, or previous deadly storms.
For consistency with the US National Hurricane Centre, the Met Office does not use names beginning with Q, U, X, Y or Z. The alphabetical list runs from early September to late August of the following year and alternates male and female names. The next names on the 2026/27 list are Chloe, Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn and Heather.
Other European nations have separate naming arrangements: Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Luxembourg collaborate on south‑west European names, while Norway, Sweden and Denmark coordinate names for the north.
Key facts
- The Met Office launched a public‑suggested storm‑naming scheme in 2015. (standard.co.uk)
- A storm receives a name when an amber or red warning is issued, but yellow warnings can also lead to naming if impacts are uncertain. (standard.co.uk)
- Names are chosen with input from the public and coordinated with Met Éireann and KNMI. (standard.co.uk)
- Names starting with Q, U, X, Y or Z are not used to match US hurricane naming conventions. (standard.co.uk)
- The 2026/27 season's upcoming names after Austen are Chloe, Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn and Heather. (standard.co.uk)
Sources
- [1] standard.co.uk — originally reported as “How and why do we name storms?”
