Met Office announce ‘Welsh’ names for new storms

The Met Office has announced ‘Welsh’ names for new storms for use in the 2021/22 season.

The first storm of the year will be named after a Lord of the Rings character Arwen, which was made up by JRR Tolkien, but is believed to have Welsh roots.

Another storm will be called Gladys, a female name from the Welsh name Gwladus or Gwladys, which bears the meaning of royalty or princess.

Olwen also features among the names selected by the Met Office, Met Eireann and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute after thousands of suggestions were submitted. The storm season runs from September 2021 through to the end of August 2022.

Members of the public in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, have been invited to put forward names for storms for the past seven years.

Will Lang, Head of the National Severe Weather Warning Service at the Met Office, said: “This is now the seventh year of us naming storms with our European partners and we look forward to continuing to work together with them to raise awareness around the impacts of severe weather in order to help keep people from all nations safe.

“We’re all aware of some of the severe weather that has been witnessed across Europe and globally in recent months and we work to use any tool at our disposal to ensure the public is informed of potential risks, and naming storms is just one way we do that.

“We know naming storms helps raise awareness of the impacts of severe weather and ensures clarity for the public when they need it most.”

Other names on the list – which does not use names beginning with Q, U, X, Y or Z – include Barra, Corrie, Eunice, Franklin, Herman, Imani, Jack, Meabh, Nasim, Pol, Sean, Tineke, Vergil and Willemien.