Hurricane Ophelia: Fresh warnings as powerful storm heads to UK

 

The Met Office has issued Northern Ireland with an amber weather warning as Hurricane Ophelia continues across the Atlantic towards the British Isles.

The warning of "potential danger to life" came as the Republic of Ireland called a national emergency meeting.

Ophelia, on its way from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, is currently blowing winds of 90mph (145km/h).

The hurricane will be a storm when it hits the UK, exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 killed 18 people.

It has been downgraded to a category one hurricane by the US National Hurricane Center and is forecast to continue gradually weakening.

The weather system is expected to bring severe winds and stormy conditions to parts of Ireland and the UK, with winds of up to 70mph (113km/h).

All schools and colleges in the Republic of Ireland will be closed on Monday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

The Department of Education and Skills said the decision had been made "following discussions with members of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning and in light of the advice from Met Eireann on this unprecedented storm."

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