Your chance to name the next big storm as Met Office opens 2025/26 submission

Is your grandma a force of nature? Does your best friend cause an impact wherever they go? Now you can give them the recognition they deserve, by naming a storm after them. The Met Office is once again inviting the public to submit storm name suggestions for the upcoming 2025/26 season.

The UK may be basking in heatwave conditions for now, but the Met Office is already preparing for the next storm season — and it wants your help.

Members of the public are encouraged to submit names for the 2025/26 list of storm names, which helps to communicate the risks of severe weather in a more relatable and effective way.

This year marks the eleventh anniversary of the storm naming initiative, which is a collaboration between the UK’s Met Office, Met Éireann in Ireland, and KNMI in the Netherlands.

The trio work together to select names from across the alphabet (excluding Q, U, X, Y, and Z, in line with international conventions), each contributing to different letters to reflect the diversity of their respective nations.

The list of 2024/2025 storm names

Will Lang, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, stressed the public benefit of naming storms:

“We all remember the impactful storm names of recent years. Whether it’s Eunice, Franklin, Bert or another impactful event, the storm naming system has helped us communicate weather to help people stay safe.”

He continued:

“Now we need the UK public to help us compile this year’s list. Whether you want to honour a weather-lover in your family, remember a family pet or get a friend’s name in the headlines, we welcome submissions from the public to help us pull together next year’s list of storm names.”

Storm names are not chosen lightly. The process considers pronunciation, potential meanings across cultures, and the risk of controversy. Names with ambiguous meanings or those difficult to pronounce are typically avoided.

The final list will be unveiled in early September 2025, with the first storm to bear the first alphabetically chosen name.

The rationale behind the initiative is grounded in public safety.

“We name storms because it works,” explained Lang.

“For Storm Éowyn in January, the UK’s most powerful windstorm for over a decade, post-event surveys suggest that 99% of people within the red warning area were aware of the warnings, and 89% of them took action.”

He added:

“I’d therefore encourage the public, schools, workplaces and just about everyone, to get involved in something that may seem light-hearted, but has a very serious message.”

Storm naming has become an essential part of how extreme weather is communicated. It enables the media and public to follow the storm’s development and expected impact more easily. So far in the 2024/25 season, five storms have been named, with Storm Éowyn being the most recent, named on 21 January 2025.

Those wishing to make a submission can do so online, and are also encouraged to include a reason behind their chosen name. Names submitted via social media will not be considered. The deadline for entries is 3 July 2025.

For more details and to submit your storm name suggestion, visit the Met Office’s official storm name submissions page.