Will the next weather-extreme event call “Hurricane Exxonmobil”? Or maybe “Storm Shell”? This is what some British environmental activists propose, who took the opportunity of a competition launched by Met Office – The United Kingdom meteorological agency – to suggest storm names and send a strong and uncomfortable message: climatic catastrophies have a principal, which is not only the “nature”.
Behind this idea, which has become viral in a few days, there is a coordinated campaign by Alexis Eyresustainable marketing expert. The goal? Give a face and a name to human and industrial responsibilities in the climatic crisis. Eyre explained to Guardian that the inspiration was born from a letter published in the same newspaper in 2024, in which the reader John Uden He suggested to stop “making these serious inconvenience harmless” with friendly names. On the contrary, he wrote, it would be more right to use names such as “fossil fuels” or “SUV producers”.
The idea, which echoes the famous case of “Boaty McBoatface” – The 2016 competition to appoint a research ship, then officially renamed Sir David Attenborough – He has already collected hundreds of adhesions. Not only real multinationals, but also satirical names such as “Bigail” and “Fossily McFuelface”, in a mix of sarcasm and denunciation.
The launch of the official Met Office competition
Everything started from an official announcement published by the Met Office on June 19, 2025: “Is your grandmother a force of nature? Your best friend has an impact wherever it goes? Now you can give him the recognition he deserves, giving his name to a storm”. With these words, the public of the United Kingdom was invited to propose names for the season of Storms 2025/26, with the aim of improving the communication of extreme weather events. The chief meteorologist Will Lang He underlined that “giving a name to the storms works”, remembering the effectiveness of the alert during the storm Éowyn, in January, when 99% of the population in the affected areas were aware of the danger.
A way to give a face defined to the crisis
But behind the irony there is a very concrete urgency: bringing out the direct link between the use of fossil fuels and the increase in the intensity of extreme weather events. According to a recent climatic attribution study reported by the Met Office, the rainfall during the winter 2023-2024 were 20% more intense due to the global warming caused by human activities. In addition, events such as torrential rains and violent thunderstorms are now ten times more likely than in the past.
Scientific projections leave no room for doubt: the number of storms may not significantly increase in the next decades, but their violence yes. Phenomena such as the so -called Spanish Plumean influx of hot air from the Iberian peninsula towards the United Kingdom, feed violent summer thunderstorms with strong gusts of wind, hail and lightning. Behind these anomalies there is always the same engine: the leavening of global temperatures, fueled largely by the combustion of gas, oil and coal.
Give visibility to responsibilities
“An idea like this makes the connection between the companies that have contributed to creating this damage much more tangible and, concretely, what the consequences are,” Eyre said to the Guardian. And in fact, although not aiming to discredit the Met Office – which for some time has been reporting the links between climate change and extreme bad weather – the campaign aims to “make visible” what often remains abstract: who takes profit from the climate change And who pays the price.
The spokesman for the Met Office, asked about the proposal, reiterated that the institution “does not give storms the names of private companies”. But the discussion is now open and touches an uncovered nerve: the way we communicate the climatic crisis directly affects the public perception of its causes and solutions.
The stake: change the narrative
The idea of renamed storms as “Chevron Storm” or “Cyclone BP” may appear as a symbolic provocation. But in an era in which scientific data alone seem to no longer be enough to mobilize consciences, language becomes an even more strategic tool. Providing a name means, in fact, to recognize a responsibility.
Assign the name “Total Storm” to a storm will not stop it. But it will serve to remember that, behind every uncovered roof, every forest torn and every flooded house, there is not only the weather. But also the story of those who have made and continue to profit, to the detriment of our climate, our ecosystems and our planet.
