Brett Ellis on the new storm names issued by the Met Office

Arguably, I am in the minority of one with my feelings as to previous monikers issued to extreme weather events. The storms always seem to have lacklustre names such as ‘Dave’ or ‘Cheryl,’ but I was today years old when I learnt that the names all have meanings.

The names which run from A-Z (sorry, I had an All Saints moment then) include Ashley, Bert, Izzy, Mavis, Poppy, Vivienne and Wren.

 James is included as a nod to Group Captain James Stagg who was a former chief meteorological advisor to Eisenhower.

Believing Mavis was named after Mavis Beacon (If you’re under-50, ask your parents) or ‘Ooh Mavis’ of Corrie fame (ask your grandparents), it is actually named after Ms Hinds who worked on the earliest Met office computers.

Flattery is in the eye of beholder, be it through being awarded an MBE or OBE (which I would love, if only to showboat on written letters) or by having a street named after you, but a storm?

Brett Ellis asks if anyone would want a storm named after them Surely a meteorological event that can wreak havoc, and in some extreme cases loss of life, is not an event you want your name associated with?

Only recently storm Lilian made her appearance and as explained by Will Lang from the Met, it’s ‘great’ to be able to honour those who have worked in climate services in what is the 170th year of the Met's existence.

Recently in Japan, Typhoon Shanshan left three dead as it weaved a destructive path across the islands.

The typhoon naming goes into detail with different lists being released depending on the geographical location. The Gulf of Mexico naming team obviously gave up and decided to rotate names on a six-yearly rota although, bizarrely they have a ‘reserve names’ list in case one of them gets injured one can surmise. The names used include Rene, Walter, Gemma and the less-than-inspirational Lee.

Predictably Australia, with the bluntness expected of the countryfolk, are straight in with ‘Bruce’ whereas India has, amongst Indian names, cyclones Jeremy, Noah and, ah-hah, Elvis.

The one name they have not used yet however is ‘Storm Brett.’ I am unsure if it would be a beast or more a gentle gust of wind, but probably the latter. There have however been eight tropical storms named after the American spelling ‘Bret’.

Still, if you are reading this and are employed at the Met office, I have now planted the seed and I expect to see Hurricane Brett making an appearance in 2025-26 when I will once again produce a load of hot air and create no little havoc, as is my columnist want.

• Brett Ellis is a teacher.