In this paper a novel algorithm which jointly solves the problems of routing and dimensioning in dynamic WDM rings is proposed. The algorithm is simple, very fast (processing time <1 s) and applicable to rings of any size. After applying the algorithm to rings of 6-20 nodes, it was found that it outperformed the best proposal to date. In the cases where the optimal solution could be obtained by solving an ILP (Integer Linear Programming) model, the algorithm proposed here obtained exactly the same results. These facts make the proposed method the best solution to date for the routing and dimensioning of dynamic WDM rings, the most popular topology in metropolitan networks. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.