Met Office names go down a storm

So they're asking for new ones

The Exeter-based Met Office is deciding on names for the next set of storms and wants the public to help.

The weather and climate experts began naming storms In partnership with their Irish and Dutch counterparts just a few years ago. The sun has shone on the idea ever since.

Now they're asking people to nominate names for every letter of the alphabet, except Q, U, X, Y and Z - so your Uncle Xavier and cousin Zac may be disappointed. Storms never get that far up the alphabet anyway, overt discrimination, some may say, against Queenies. Aunt Ursula may storm out. Yolanda looks thunderous.

You can have a P, but that's as far as it goes. To take part, enter your suggested name on the Met Office website, where you can also say why you want a storm with that name. The Met Office says it will "choose from some of the most the most popular names suggested."

So if you're name's not popular, bad luck.

Head of civil contingencies at the Met Office Will Lang said: “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.  

Suggest your name here: https://bit.ly/2Ua8AlD