Hurricane Ophelia TERRIFYING path to UK: Huge tropical superstorm to smash Britain IN DAYS
BRITAIN is facing one of the worst storms of almost a decade with Tropical Storm Ophelia set to crush the country next week.Winds and torrential downpours triggered by the powerful climate system have threatened areas of the UK since Monday night.
Ophelia is increasing wind speeds of nearly 70 mph when it flies across the Atlantic to the north coast of Spain.
She is showing signs of changing tracks and hitting the UK just after the weekend - almost 30 years a day since the Great Storm of 1987.
While the impact is not expected to be so severe, forecasters say Ophelia will be similar to the tropical storm grace that hit Britain 2009 and ex-Hurricane Gordon who hit in 2006.
Both triggered strong winds across the country with winds of more than 80 mph registered in the most affected regions.
Unlike many tropical storms and hurricanes that cross the Atlantic, Ophelia will not collapse before it arrives.Instead, it will remain as a completely intact low pressure system that will reach the coasts of the UK fully loaded and with a powerful sting in its tail.
The weather will begin to become unstable by the end of Monday, while Ophelia falls on the west coast of Britain, experts say.
The models currently vary in the exact path of the storm however, everyone agrees that the UK could suffer a significant impact until Tuesday.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: "We expect conditions to become unstable early next week.
"Later on Monday there is a suggestion that a low pressure system
derived from Ophelia will come from the southwest coast of Ireland,
which is likely to bring wet, windy conditions to Britain.
"Its effect will depend on the track and there are several variations currently, some show that it follows a central path through the British Isles, while others show that it is heading north."
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the weather service was "very concerned" and were monitoring Ofelia's progress.Britain is in the firing line for a "very wet and windy" spell of fall time if Ophelia makes a direct hit, he warned.
He added: "While a tropical system leading our way like this is not unprecedented, it is unusual.
"It is expected to retain the integrity of the original storm rather than dissipate in a mass of warm air, in terms of any name, it will be called former tropical storm Ophelia.
"Tropical Storm Grace, which affected the British Isles in 2009, was similar to Hurricane Gordon that affected the UK in 2006.
"Both brought strong winds to the UK.
"It is likely to be very humid and windy if the central projection is correct [Ophelia tracks directly across the country], it is still a way out at the moment."It will have an effect Monday and Tuesday, but it is short-lived, so things should get more resolved by mid-week."
Ophelia will arrive almost 30 years to the day since the Great Historical Storm struck in the night of 15 of October of 1987.
The violent extratropical cyclone brought hurricane winds to the UK killing 22 people and causing widespread destruction.
Tropical Storm Ophelia is currently waving ocean waters off the west coast of North Africa and is expected to reach northern Spain during the early hours of Monday.
It is traveling to the northeast with sustained winds of 65 mph
although the warm waters of the sea threaten to pump more energy into
the system.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that the storm continues to strengthen and could become a full-fledged hurricane over the next few days.In a statement said: "Ophelia has been better organized during the last hours, with convective bands now wrapping almost all the way around the center.
"The cyclone is expected to drift north-east and accelerate ahead of a mid-latitude basin that deepens over the central-north Atlantic.
"The cyclone is expected to be in a low shear environment and over slightly warm seasurface temperatures over the next two to three days.
"These conditions favor the strengthening and the NHC's forecast now calls Ophelia to become a hurricane in about 24 hours."Claire Kennedy-Edwards, principal meteorologist for The Weather Company, said: "While there is still some uncertainty as to the track Ophelia models are coming to an agreement that Ophelia will become a low pressure system on Monday morning, expected stormy conditions.
"For Tuesday,
the strongest are expected to be through western Scotland with gusts around 55 to 60 mph. "Moderate rain [will affect] eastern Ireland as well as parts of Wales in the south-west of the UK." that this clue is likely to change and people should pay attention to additional updates in the later days. "
Ophelia is increasing wind speeds of nearly 70 mph when it flies across the Atlantic to the north coast of Spain.She is showing signs of changing tracks and hitting the UK just after the weekend - almost 30 years a day since the Great Storm of 1987.
While the impact is not expected to be so severe, forecasters say Ophelia will be similar to the tropical storm grace that hit Britain 2009 and ex-Hurricane Gordon who hit in 2006.
Both triggered strong winds across the country with winds of more than 80 mph registered in the most affected regions.Unlike many tropical storms and hurricanes that cross the Atlantic, Ophelia will not collapse before it arrives.Instead, it will remain as a completely intact low pressure system that will reach the coasts of the UK fully loaded and with a powerful sting in its tail.
The weather will begin to become unstable by the end of Monday, while Ophelia falls on the west coast of Britain, experts say.
The models currently vary in the exact path of the storm however, everyone agrees that the UK could suffer a significant impact until Tuesday.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: "We expect conditions to become unstable early next week.
"Later on Monday there is a suggestion that a low pressure system
derived from Ophelia will come from the southwest coast of Ireland,
which is likely to bring wet, windy conditions to Britain."Its effect will depend on the track and there are several variations currently, some show that it follows a central path through the British Isles, while others show that it is heading north."
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said the weather service was "very concerned" and were monitoring Ofelia's progress.Britain is in the firing line for a "very wet and windy" spell of fall time if Ophelia makes a direct hit, he warned.
He added: "While a tropical system leading our way like this is not unprecedented, it is unusual.
"It is expected to retain the integrity of the original storm rather than dissipate in a mass of warm air, in terms of any name, it will be called former tropical storm Ophelia.
"Tropical Storm Grace, which affected the British Isles in 2009, was similar to Hurricane Gordon that affected the UK in 2006."Both brought strong winds to the UK.
"It is likely to be very humid and windy if the central projection is correct [Ophelia tracks directly across the country], it is still a way out at the moment."It will have an effect Monday and Tuesday, but it is short-lived, so things should get more resolved by mid-week."
Ophelia will arrive almost 30 years to the day since the Great Historical Storm struck in the night of 15 of October of 1987.
The violent extratropical cyclone brought hurricane winds to the UK killing 22 people and causing widespread destruction.
Tropical Storm Ophelia is currently waving ocean waters off the west coast of North Africa and is expected to reach northern Spain during the early hours of Monday.
It is traveling to the northeast with sustained winds of 65 mph
although the warm waters of the sea threaten to pump more energy into
the system.The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that the storm continues to strengthen and could become a full-fledged hurricane over the next few days.In a statement said: "Ophelia has been better organized during the last hours, with convective bands now wrapping almost all the way around the center.
"The cyclone is expected to drift north-east and accelerate ahead of a mid-latitude basin that deepens over the central-north Atlantic.
"The cyclone is expected to be in a low shear environment and over slightly warm seasurface temperatures over the next two to three days.
"These conditions favor the strengthening and the NHC's forecast now calls Ophelia to become a hurricane in about 24 hours."Claire Kennedy-Edwards, principal meteorologist for The Weather Company, said: "While there is still some uncertainty as to the track Ophelia models are coming to an agreement that Ophelia will become a low pressure system on Monday morning, expected stormy conditions.
"For Tuesday,
the strongest are expected to be through western Scotland with gusts around 55 to 60 mph. "Moderate rain [will affect] eastern Ireland as well as parts of Wales in the south-west of the UK." that this clue is likely to change and people should pay attention to additional updates in the later days. "
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