More 80mph gales on way
STORM-LASHED Britain will win a respite from the gales today – before 80mph winds return at the weekend.
Much of the country will enjoy a calm day after Hurricane Ophelia’s assault left three dead on Monday.
Ireland and Western Britain were first in the firing line before the North-east took the storm’s parting shot yesterday.
Gusts of up to 77mph toppled a truck on the M6 in Cumbria and buildings were damaged in Glasgow.
Today much of Britain will have a chilly day, with the odd shower further dampening spirits.
Temperatures surged at the start of this week thanks to warm air pulled up by Ophelia.
But the next few days will be much cooler with highs of about 64F (18C) in the South and between 45F (7C) and 52F (11C) further North.
Warning
However, another bout of stormy weather is firing up for this weekend.
A deep low pressure system in the Atlantic threatens to swipe Britain on Friday night and through the early hours of Saturday. No name has been given to the storm yet, though the Met Office has not ruled out issuing a warning for “Brian” over coming days.
Forecaster Emma Sharples said: “We have a couple of areas of low pressure waiting in the wings, with some tropical origin to them. This will put extra heat and moisture into the systems.”
Dave Reynolds, forecaster for The Weather Company, said: “The strongest winds will be across the South-west, Wales and along the South coast and we could see gusts of 80mph. It will have the potential to generate the next storm name of the season – and that would be ‘Brian’.”
Ophelia drifted into the North Sea last night after bringing gusts of more than 90mph.
It battered Northern Ireland, West Wales, North-west England and South-west Scotland over two days.
The strongest gusts were recorded along its southern flank on Monday afternoon.
Ophelia’s victims, all in the Republic of Ireland, were cancer support worker Clare O’Neill, 58, Fintan Goss, 33, and Michael Pyke, 31.