Met Office asks public to vote for Shaun the Sheep-inspired official storm name

• The Met Office is inviting the public to vote on whether Shaun or Timmy from Shaun the Sheep should be chosen as an official storm name.
• The winning character name will be included in the weather service’s storm list for the 2026/27 season, with the result announced on 1 September.
• The initiative is a collaboration with animation studio Aardman, with the Met Office’s head of warnings and guidance, Holly Clements, saying: “Naming storms helps our weather warnings reach more people and encourages the public to take notice when severe weather is approaching.”
• Despite being included on the list, the chosen name may not be used as storms are named alphabetically and the Met Office has never progressed past the letter L in a season.
• The Met Office has named storms since 2015 and works with Ireland’s Met Éireann and the Netherlands’ KNMI annually to develop the names list.

IN FULL

Shaun the Storm? Sheep could lend his name to weather event as Met Office opens vote