Why the UK and Ireland Name storms like Austen and Boelo

The Met Office introduced a storm-naming programme in 2015, encouraging the public to submit name ideas to make severe weather warnings more memorable and actionable. A storm is given a name when an amber or red warning is issued, signalling likely strong winds, heavy rain or snowfall. Names are selected from a pre-approved list compiled with Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Dutch KNMI, excluding those that are hard to pronounce, have conflicting meanings, or are linked to notable individuals or companies.

While Storm Austen was assigned a name despite only a yellow warning, the aim was to raise awareness of possible impacts. The naming roster follows an alphabetical order from early September through late August, alternating between male and female names such as Chloe, Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn and Heather. Separate naming collaborations exist for southwestern Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Luxembourg) and the Nordic region (Norway, Sweden, Denmark).