New storm names for 2026-2027 released by Met Office
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Warm-up
- What kinds of weather are common in autumn where you live?
- Have you ever experienced a strong storm? What happened?
- Do you watch or read weather forecasts? Why or why not?
Vocabulary
- forecast
- To say what the weather will be in the future.
- impact
- An effect or result, often a bad one on people or places.
- warning
- An official message telling people to be careful.
- disruption
- When normal activity is stopped or delayed.
- nominate
- To suggest a name or person for a list or award.
- alphabetical
- In order from A to Z.
- agency
- An official organisation that provides a service.
- hurricane
- A very strong tropical storm with violent winds.
Reading
Tuesday 1 September marks the start of meteorological autumn and the UK storm season. The Met Office has released new storm names for 2026-2027, chosen by the public. The first three are Austen, Boelo and Chloe, in alphabetical order, then Dano and Evelyn.
Storms are named by the UK Met Office, Ireland's Met Éireann and the Netherlands' KNMI when they are forecast to cause medium or high impacts. In the UK a name is used when strong winds may cause disruption and an amber or red warning is likely. Heavy rain or snow can also lead to flooding or travel disruption.
The three agencies invite the public to nominate names, and many were sent more than once. This year's list still uses those ideas. Any remnant of a tropical storm or hurricane that crosses the Atlantic keeps its name, like ex-Hurricane Erin in 2025. For US consistency, names starting with Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used. Storms named by partner agencies may not affect the UK.
Comprehension
- When does the UK's storm season start each year?
- Which organisations share the job of naming storms?
- What are the first three names on the 2026-2027 list?
- When is a storm given a name in the UK?
- Which letters are not used for storm names?
Grammar focus
How questions
Ask for a way or manner with How + helping verb + subject + main verb. Use How + did/can/do/is + subject + verb (question order). (Examples constructed.)
- How **did the Met Office release** the new list?
- How **can the public nominate** storm names?
Grammar exercise
Choose the correct option in each sentence.
- How (did the Met Office / the Met Office did) release the names?
- How (members can / can members) suggest a name?
- How (do forecasters / forecasters do) decide to name a storm?
- How (storm names are chosen / are storm names chosen) each year?
- How (did ex-Hurricane Erin keep / ex-Hurricane Erin did keep) its name?
Discussion
- Do you like naming storms? Why or why not?
- Which name on this list is your favourite? Why?
- How do you prepare when a storm warning is issued?
- Should the public help nominate storm names every year?
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