Hurricane Ophelia Hits Ireland
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Thousands are without power, a woman in her 20s has lost their life and a man from Tipperary has also died trying to clear a tree with a chainsaw, as the remnants of the Hurricane Ophelia have hit the British Isles. The Irish Republic has been hit the hardest, with 120,000 homes without electricity. The government has deployed the army and has issued an amber warning for Northern Ireland, south west Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Weather warnings for Northern Ireland – useful emergency contact numbers pic.twitter.com/BbpbPCtyCB
— nidirect (@nidirect) October 15, 2017
It could be several days before power is back on.
Ophelia has arrived from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, 30 years after the UK’s Great Storm of 1987. Ophelia is said to have ‘violent gusts’ of up to 75mph to 93mph, countrywide. Three flood warnings have been issued in England, meaning that flooding is to be expected.
Irish death toll in #Ophelia rises to 2. Police say Tipperary man in 30s mortally wounded by own chainsaw as he cleared a felled tree. pic.twitter.com/bIaim1f8Xw
— Shawn Pogatchnik (@ShawnPogatchnik) October 16, 2017
Dublin Airport said up to 130 flights have been cancelled. Flight companies like Ryanair, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Air France, CityJet, Emirates and KLM have all pulled flights due to severe weather.
Another weather phenomenon has been observed by thousands of Britons today, as the sky has turned a slight orange/yellow. This was explained by Dr Dave Reynolds from The Weather Channel, saying that the winds were strong in Iberia on Sunday, which resulted in the dust to be blown with those winds to the UK.
Th wildfires there would obviously give off a lot of dust in Portugal and Spain.
‘Some of the dust may be particulates from the fires, although I think regular fine-grained dust would account for the majority,’ he said.
It’s likely that Hurricane Ophelia will continue to batter the Irish and Welsh costs for the next few days, so be sure to heed the warnings from the Coast Guard and the MET Office. Be safe out there, folks.