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    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Austen possible this week - Where do our storm names come from?

09:22
19 October 2026

Austen possible this week
Where do our storm names come from?

Lightning strikes beneath dark storm clouds over fields, with warning signs for thunderstorms and strong winds shown in foreground.

We could potentially see the arrival of Storm Austen later in the week, but where do the names come from?

The UK and Ireland's storm names are released at the start of each storm season, in a joint partnership between the Met Office, Met Éireann, and the Dutch weather service KNMI.

This year, a special partnership between the Met Office and Aardman Animations saw the public asked to choose between naming a storm after Shaun the Sheep, or Timmy from the show, with Shaun winning the vote.

Storm names (A-G)Storm names (H-N)Storm names (O-W)
AustenHeatherOlaf
BoeloIvyPhelim
ChloeJadeRuban
DanoKilianShaun
EvelynLaoiseTheo
FinnMiriamVesna
GwendolynNicolaWende

Each named storm takes its name from public suggestions across the three countries. This year, Chloe was among the most popular names, with more than 130 suggestions.

Each country contributes seven names to the list, with letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z not being used due to a lack of variety in names with those letters and to maintain convention with the US hurricane warning system.

Currently, there is moderate confidence that Friday will bring the first of these storms, Austen. It is still uncertain what path the system will take precisely, with the current path moving through southern England.

Extra names?

Ex-hurricanes or ex-tropical systems that cross the Atlantic Ocean also retain the name they were given by the US National Hurricane Centre.

Ryan Hathaway
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