The Met Office has confirmed that the fifth storm of 2024/2025 will be called Éowyn – a name that should be highly familiar to Lord of the Rings fans.
Rare red weather warnings were issued on Thursday (January 23) for what could be the strongest storm in decades. Storm Éowyn’s arrival is forecast to bring widespread travel disruption and danger to life due to flying debris.
Since ‘Name our Storms’ was first launched in 2015 by the Met Office, there has been a new list of names curated for each season. The list runs from early September to late August the following year.
Why is storm Éowyn named after a ‘Lord of the Rings’ character?
Though it has not been officially confirmed by The Met Office, it seems highly likely that inspiration was taken from JRR Tolkien’s novels when naming the storm.
Storm Éowyn got its name after the weather forecasting service held a public event where people were invited to submit suggestions.
In the books, Éowyn is the name of the noblewoman from the kingdom of Rohan.
The character was portrayed by Miranda Otto in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations. In her most memorable scene, from The Return of The King, she fights and defeats the Witch-king of Angmar, fulfilling the Macbeth-like prophecy that he would not be killed by a man.
It’s believed Tolkien invented the name Éowyn by combining the words ‘eoh’ (meaning horse) with ‘wyn’ (meaning joy) as the people of Rohan are known as horse riders.
This isn’t the first time the Met Office has taken inspiration from Tolkien. In 2021/2022 their submissions included the name Arwen – the half-elf who marries Aragorn and is played by Liv Tyler in the films.
The most recent Lord of the Rings project to hit screens was the anime movie The War of the Rohirrim. The film was released in cinemas on December 13 and received mixed reactions from critics.