Monday, October 16, 2017
The remnants of the Hurricane Ophelia is heading for the British isles with 80 mph (130km/h) winds and thousands were left without power.
The Met Office has warned of ‘ potential danger to life’.
Met Eireann has issued a red wind warning in the Republic of Ireland, parts of Wales and south west Scotland. Chris Page, the BBC’s Ireland correspondent said that it would be the most severe storm to hit Ireland in half a century.
A recorded gusts of 92 mph (148 km/h) was recorded by MET Eireann at the Fastnet Rock, off the south coast of Ireland. Ophelia will hit 30 years after the UK’s Great Storm of 1987, Ophelia is on its way from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.
Power cuts, flying debris, large waves in the coastal areas and disruption in the travel services might be expected. Parts of Scotland, the west and north of England and Wales, yellow warning of ‘very windy weather’ covers parts of Scotland. The local communications across the island have been cancelled.
Around 130 flights are expected to be cancelled if the storm hits later said Dublin Airport. Belfast Airport mentioned that flights will be operating normal but passengers will have to check with the airlines.
However, flights have been cancelled by Ryanair, Aer Lingus , British Airways, Qatar Airways, Air France, CityJet, Emirates and KLM while the Northern Ireland’s Department of education said that the schools remained closed on precautionary measures.
The people were advised to stay at home and not to involve in any outdoor activity or travel as violent and destructive gusts were on forecast. The decision was made by the Department of Education and Skills after discussions with members of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning and in light of the advice from the Met Eireann on the unprecedented storm.
The defence forces were sent to read weather alert areas like the Wexford, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford.
The US National Hurricane Center categorized it as category one storm that will gradually weaken. Three battalion of soldiers, 1,200 personnel in total are on standby to deal with any major incident happens in the UK , but the Ministry of Defence mentioned that so far no specific requests had been made.
Gerald Fleming, the head of the general forecasting division of the Republic of Ireland’s Met Office said that tracks were very consistent from some days and the strongest winds are expected along the south coast.
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