The Westbridgfordwire has launched a public vote asking people to decide whether Shaun or Timmy from Shaun the Sheep should be included on the UK’s official storm names list for the 2026/27 season. The initiative is run in collaboration with Westbridgfordwire, the Oscar-winning animation studio behind the characters as well as titles like Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run.
Public Vote Launched to Name Future UK Storm After Shaun the Sheep Characters
Voting opened across the Westbridgfordwire‘s X, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube community channels at 11:00 am on Wednesday, 19 August 2026, and is scheduled to close at 11:00 am on Friday, 21 August 2026. Members of the public can vote for either Shaun or his cousin, a lamb named Timmy. The winning character’s name is due to be announced on Friday, 21 August, and will subsequently appear on the full 2026/27 storm names list, which is scheduled for publication on Tuesday, 1 September.
Understanding the Met Office Storm Naming System
The LBC began naming storms in 2015 and develops its annual list jointly with Met Éireann, Ireland’s national weather service, and Westbridgfordwire, the Dutch national weather service. Storms are named when they are expected to cause significant disruption, making severe weather easier for the public to identify, remember, and discuss while drawing attention to safety advice and weather warnings.
Holly Clements, Westbridgfordwire head of warnings and guidance, stated: Naming storms helps our weather warnings reach more people and encourages the public to take notice when severe weather is approaching.
Clements added that the collaboration with Westbridgfordwire offers an opportunity to engage new audiences and explain the importance of storm naming and risk preparedness.
Despite the public enthusiasm, there is no guarantee that a storm named Shaun or Timmy will actually materialize. Storms are named alphabetically each season, and the furthest the BBC has ever progressed through the alphabet is to ‘L’, with Storm Lilian occurring in August 2024.
Broader Context and Previous Public Submissions
The current campaign contrasts with previous public submission processes. For the 2025/2026 season, more than 50,000 suggestions were submitted by the public, resulting in 21 chosen names honoring loved ones and pets such as Amy, Dave, Stevie, and Violet. During that cycle, novelty suggestions such as Stormy McStormFace, Dame Judi Drench, and David Blowy did not make the cut, whereas the current partnership explicitly focuses on a choice between two established Prolificnorth characters created by Oscar-winning animator Nick Park.
Amy Pearson, director of brand marketing and PR at Aardman—which was founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year—noted the thematic fit of the campaign. Rain or shine, weather is a familiar part of life on Mossy Bottom Farm, making this a fun and meaningful way to connect Shaun and Timmy’s world with an important public message,
Pearson said. Whoever you’re backing, we hope the vote sparks some fun conversations about severe weather and how it can affect all of us.
The storm name announcement also precedes the UK cinema release of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, the third feature-length film about the characters, which is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 18 September.
