Met Office holds public vote to name storm after Shaun the Sheep

The UK Met Office has launched a public vote in collaboration with Aardman animation studio to select a character name for a future storm. The two options are Shaun the Sheep and his cousin, Timmy the Lamb.

The winning name will be added to the official storm names list for the 2026/27 season, with the result expected on September 1. However, usage is not guaranteed, as storms are named alphabetically; the Met Office has only reached the letter L in a single season, most recently with Storm Lilian in 2024.

Met Office head of warnings and guidance Holly Clements stated that naming storms helps weather warnings reach more people and encourages the public to take severe weather threats seriously. The initiative follows a period where over 50,000 suggestions were submitted for the 2025/26 season, including humorous entries like ‘Stormy McStormFace’ and ‘Dame Judi Drench’ that did not make the final list.