The Met Office is looking for the next round of names for the upcoming storm season in the UK - and the general public can have their say.
The weather forecaster, in partnership with Met Éireann and KNMI - the forecasting services for Ireland and the Netherlands, has been giving storms names in recent years to raise awareness of severe weather.
So far in 2021, the UK has been battered by Storm Christoph with flooding, and then Storm Darcy brought heavy snow the following month in February.
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Now, the Met Office is asking people in the UK to submit their suggestions for weather events from September into next year.
"Does your Uncle James move like a whirlwind? Does your best friend cause an impact wherever they go? Now you can give them the recognition they deserve, by naming a storm after them," the advert says.
People can submit as many suggestions as they choose and also have the option of adding a reason for their suggestion to help it in consideration. The Met Office will then choose from some of the most popular names suggested.
Head of civil contingencies at the Met Office, Will Lang said: “It’s incredibly important that everyone understands the potential impacts of severe weather and if having the public submit names for our next round of storms helps them engage in the subject then it’s a great way of raising awareness.
“When storms come, we are obviously at the forefront of assessing its impacts on the people of the UK, and communicating that information succinctly is incredibly important during those times.
"That’s why storms need names, so people, the media and our meteorologists can better speak about potential impacts when a storm is in the forecast."
As part of the naming process, each of the three meteorological organisations get to name selected letters in the alphabet, reflecting the diversity of the three countries naming the storms.
Names are selected for each letter of the alphabet, except for Q, U, X, Y and Z, in keeping with storm naming conventions.
Once the storm names are all submitted, the group will determine the definitive list of storm names for the 2021/22 storm season.
Submissions are open now for the next round of storm names and can be submitted through the Met Office website.
Entries will close on June 28, 2021.
