diff --git a/lib/iris/__init__.py b/lib/iris/__init__.py
index d89bd4762a..54a26893e4 100644
--- a/lib/iris/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/iris/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# (C) British Crown Copyright 2010 - 2014, Met Office
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2010 - 2015, Met Office
 #
 # This file is part of Iris.
 #
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ def callback(cube, field, filename):
 
 
 # Iris revision.
-__version__ = '1.8.0-DEV'
+__version__ = '1.8.0-rc.1'
 
 # Restrict the names imported when using "from iris import *"
 __all__ = ['load', 'load_cube', 'load_cubes', 'load_raw',