Mavis is named after Mavis Hinds. Mavis worked on all the earliest computers used by the Met Office to develop Numerical Weather Prediction from a theory into an operational process.
She started working on the Lyons Electric LEO 1 which was owned by the Lyons catering company, followed by the Ferranti Mark 1 computer at Manchester University. Her team worked on it by night whilst university academics, including Alan Turing, used it during the day.
Her work and that of her team proved that computers could be used to produce fast, accurate weather forecasts, and paved the way for the Met Office to purchase its first computer, which was nicknamed ‘Meteor’. This was then followed by ‘Comet’, which produced the first operational forecast by Numerical Weather Prediction on 2 November 1965.
See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2024/historic-met-office-figures-included-in-2024-25-storm-names