The naming of storms can be a difficult matter, as the Met Office has found out. Welsh speakers expressed dismay and surprise after the UK forecaster chose the girls’ name Heulwen as one of its 2020-21 storm names. The problem is that Heulwen means sunshine, or “blessed by the sun”. Perhaps not the most appropriate name for a weather event that could bring flooding and travel disruption. Heledd Fychan, a Plaid Cymru councillor in Pontypridd, south Wales, which was badly affected by storms in February, said: “Whilst it’s great to see a Welsh name being used, it is unfortunate that of all the wonderful ones the Met Office could have chosen, they have gone for one that means sunshine. “Given the severity of the storms that have hit Wales this year and the awful impact on so many communities, it is insensitive to those who were affected.” The BBC weatherman Owain Wyn Evans was among those who raised an eyebrow, tweeting: “Who’s looking forward to Storm Sunshine?” Dr Eilir Hughes, a Welsh GP, also tweeted about the irony of calling a storm Sunshine. The Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith was more conciliatory. Its chair, Bethan Ruth, said: “We’re always happy to see the Welsh language being used in an international context. Welsh names, including place names, should be more widely used, normalised and celebrated in Britain, considering the language’s long and rich history on this island.” The Met Office defended its choice, insisting that the point of the exercise was not to focus on the meanings but to make people aware that if a storm is named, very bad weather is on the way. This is the sixth year that storms have been named. The first serious storm of this autumn will be called Aiden, followed by Bella and Christoph. A Met Office spokeswoman, Bonnie Diamond, said the organisation always looked carefully at the meanings of the names it gave to storms and did not see anything wrong with using Heulwen. “We put out a call for names to the public. We had thousands of suggestions,” she said. “There were quite a lot of interesting names on the list. We’re keen to have a very diverse list of names. “H was going to be female this year [it was Hugh last time]. A popular female name was Heulwen. We check all the meanings of the names beforehand. The meaning of Heulwen is sun-blessed. We were more than happy to use it.” Colleagues including Welsh speakers were consulted and backed the use of it. “Every single name has a meaning,” said Diamond, reeling off other names from the 2020-21 list. “Aiden means fiery, Bella means beautiful. Ravi means sun, Naia water. Last year we had Samir, which means wind.” Diamond said the Met Office would encourage people not to get caught up in the meanings. “Giving storms names helps communicate the message that severe weather is on the way,” she said. The Met Office teams up with its counterparts in Ireland, Met Éireann, and the Netherlands, KNMI, to name storms. In a statement it said: “Similar to previous years, the 2020-21 list has been compiled from names suggested by the public along with names that reflect the diversity of the three nations. “As in previous years, Q, U, X, Y and Z will not be used, to comply with the international storm naming conventions.” Sadly for Heulwens everywhere, the name may end up unused as the storms are named alphabetically. The 2019-20 season only reached F for Francis.