15-02-2025
On this day: man named Storm Denniss hounded by online trolls
On this day in 2020, it was reported that a Yorkshire man actually named Storm Denniss had said he was being menaced by online trolls about the weather.
As reported by the Telegraph and Argus, Mr Denniss was inundated with more than 50 messages from strangers on social media, "pleading with him not to wreak havoc."
This came after the Met Office predicted that 1,200-mile-wide Storm Dennis would hit the UK, bringing with it a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours.
Since the storm was named, Mr Denniss, a furniture maker from Whitby, had been sent messages from people he had never met.
Despite the trolling, Mr Denniss, then 24, found the situation amusing.
He said: "I found it hilarious when the storm was named after me and my family started making jokes about it.
"The next day I started getting random messages from people I've never even heard of.
"They went into my spam folder on Facebook.
"People are definitely messaging me in a light-hearted way and I will get more because the storm has not even started yet.
"I've had loads of messages from people calling me names.
"I just sit there scrolling through it and find it hilarious.
"I know people aren't being serious and are just having a laugh.
"It's cool to have a storm named after me to be honest.
"I have joked that I want it to be a storm to remember now it has my name to it.
"I will keep my eye on how the storm progresses and I won't be able to escape these messages until it's over.
"I imagine if it does cause damage then it'll only get worse too.
"I am concerned about how much damage it will cause and I do hope it won't be too bad."
Mr Denniss said he first became aware he shares a name with the weather phenomenon when a friend tagged him in a Facebook post.
