The new list of storm names for the 2025-26 season has been released by the Met Office.
Inspired by pets, everyday heroes and loved ones, the names were finalised after more than 50,000 suggestions submitted by the public.
The full list of storm names is as follows:
• Amy
• Bram
• Chandra (Ch-an-dra)
• Dave
• Eddie
• Fionnuala (Fee-new-lah)
• Gerard (Jer-ard)
• Hannah
• Isla
• Janna (Yah-nah)
• Kasia (Ka-shaa)
• Lilith
• Marty
• Nico
• Oscar
• Patrick
• Ruby
• Stevie
• Tadhg (Tie-g)
• Violet
• Wubbo (Vuh-boh)
How are storms named?
The names are selected by the Met Office, the UK’s national meteorological service, in partnership with Ireland’s meteorological service, Met Éireann and Dutch national weather forecasting service KNMI.
The three make up the western storm naming group and have been naming storms since 2015.
The list runs from early September until the following August, to coincide with the start of autumn. It is around this time that the potential for storms severe enough to be named increases.
Names run alphabetically, with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z missed out to keep in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming conventions.
The Met Office says several factors are considered before a name makes it to the list, including:
• How difficult it might be to pronounce;
• If it has different meanings across the different countries;
• If it is connected to a significant public figure;
• If it could be considered to be controversial in some way.
Storms are given a name when they are deemed to have the potential to cause medium or high impacts in the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands.
The impact of strong winds is the primary factor considered, but additional issues from rain or snow are also looked at.
Inspired by pets and snoring husbands
The names on this year’s list have a range of inspirations behind them.
Amy was the most popular female name submitted to the Met Office, while Dave was described as one person as “my beloved husband who can snore three times louder than any storm”.
The choice of Stevie was inspired by a little girl named after singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks for the Fleetwood Mac song Dreams, which includes the line: “Thunder only happens when it’s raining.”
Beloved pets also prompted nominations, with Oscar described as a cat who is a “good boy, but crazy when he gets the zoomies”.
Others submitted to Met Éireann and KNMI included Bram, after the Irish author Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula, and Janna, in memory of a 96-year-old Dutch grandmother who had “weathered many storms”.
Why are they given names?
Storms are assigned names throughout the year to help make them easily identifiable for those affected by them.
The Met Office says it means there is consistency in messages through the media and the government, making the public better placed to protect themselves, their property and businesses.
Rebekah Hicks, chief meteorologist at the Met Office explained: “Naming storms isn’t just about giving them a label, it’s about making sure people take notice.
“It’s a simple step that can make a big difference in helping communities stay safe, protect their homes, and make informed decisions ahead of severe weather.”
In the last year, six storms were named, reaching the letter F with Storm Floris on 1 August.
Is it the same around the world?
Many other countries work together to name their storms for consistency.
Similar to the western storm naming group, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Luxembourg together make up the south-western storm naming group and Norway, Sweden and Denmark are the northern group.
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Further afield, tropical or subtropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean are named by the National Hurricane Centre, while the World Meteorological Organisation has six alphabetical lists of names which are used on a six-year cycle.
In order to avoid confusion, the names of tropical storms, hurricanes or cyclones that travel across the Atlantic towards the UK, are not changed.
For example, last month, Hurricane Erin caused extremely strong winds and rain in the Caribbean.
If this had reached the criteria for naming a storm in the UK, it would have been known as Storm Erin.
