On entering service, "Meteor" joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet and in September 1942 was deployed as part of the escort for the Arctic Convoy PQ 18 to the Soviet Union and the return Convoy QP 14. Following the return from the Arctic, in November 1942, "Meteor" acted as part of the destroyer screen for the Home Fleet during Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa.