Batten down for Ophelia
Scotland braced for 60mph winds as tail of hurricane approaches
THE tail of Hurricane Ophelia is expected to bring treacherous weather to parts of Scotland within days.
Unusually mild October weather over the weekend – with temperatures reaching more than 70F in some areas – will be blown away by winds of up to 60mph on Monday.
The storm was upgraded to a category one hurricane on Wednesday, making it the 10th hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic season.
It is currently about 760 miles south-west of the Portuguese Azores islands, whipping up 75mph winds and growing stronger. But weather forecasters expect colder waters around the UK will dull its strength.
Met Office forecaster Alex Burkhill said: “Ophelia became a hurricane overnight and the forecast track takes it eastwards towards Iberia for the weekend.
“After that, indications are that by that point it will have weakened and be no longer a hurricane or tropical storm – it will be extratropical.
“But then it will continue its way towards the British Isles, probably reaching us very early next week.”
He added: “It’s definitely something we are keeping an eye on for the possibility early next week of some disruptive conditions.”
Britain’s weather appears likely to continue to be unsettled into Tuesday, due to a separate band of low pressure, and remain changeable all week.
Ophelia is this year’s 10th named Atlantic storm in a row to become a hurricane – tying a record unbroken since 1893.