Hurricane Ophelia is heading for Ireland

Photo AFP

AFP

Sunday, 15 October, 2017 08:37

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Sunday, 15 October, 2017 08:37

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London | hurricane Ophelia, which would be, according to experts, the most important ever recorded as far to the east above the Atlantic ocean, headed Sunday to the Ireland and the United Kingdom, causing sea conditions “hazardous”, said the american Center of the hurricane.

Ophelia reached Saturday, the category 3, in the amount of one notch on a scale of 5, before moving off the coast of the archipelago the Portuguese of the Azores in the night.

Seven of the nine islands of the archipelago had been placed on “red alert” but the hurricane has not caused significant damage, said Sunday the head of the civil protection regional agency, Lusa , as the hurricane began to turn away from the Azores without touching the ground.

In the evening, the fire department had been called to intervene because of small floods and the fall of a tree on the island of Sao Miguel. Several flights connecting the islands to each other or to the continental Portuguese have been cancelled, affecting about 800 passengers.

For the experts of these weather phenomena, Ophelia will remain in the annals as the most significant hurricane to have been recorded also in the east above the Atlantic ocean, and the first since 1939 to move as far to the north.

Ophelia is expected to turn into a storm “post-tropical” on Sunday, but will remain “powerful” Monday with the approach of Ireland and the United Kingdom, according to the latest forecast of the Central american hurricanes.

These two countries could suffer “a direct impact caused by the wind and the heavy rain, but also by the marine conditions hazardous,” said the institution based in Miami.

The meteorological services in irish placed five counties in the west of the country into “red alert” as of Monday morning because of forecasts showing wind gusts exceeding 130 km/h and a risk of flooding. The transportation to and from school have been cancelled.

The meteorological services of the british, have placed Northern Ireland in “orange alert” on Monday between 15h and 22h (local time), the before-last level, which may require for the population to protect themselves against the consequences of “life-threatening” weather conditions are considered “serious”.

The Met Office anticipates gusts of up to 120 km/h or even 130 km/h in the south-east, which may affect the transport by road, rail, air and sea and lead to power outages. They have also warned against the debris carried by the wind and the high waves in coastal areas.

Other areas of the Uk, including Wales, Scotland and part of England, are in “yellow alert” on Monday and Tuesday. This is the alert level of the lowest, corresponding to a call to vigilance.

In addition to the Channel, the passage of Ophelia will take place 30 years after “the Great Storm” of October 1987, which had 18 people dead and uprooted hundreds of thousands of trees in the United Kingdom and that the authorities had minimized the force.