Ophelia path: where will hurricane make landfall in UK and Ireland and when will it hit?

Weather front set to strike on 30th anniversary of 1987’s Great Storm

Hurricane Ophelia is gathering strength as it crosses the Atlantic in a north-easterly direction and is set to bring winds of up to 80mph to the southern shores of Britain by the close of the weekend.

Officially upgraded from a tropical storm by the US National Hurricane Centre in Florida overnight, Ophelia currently lies southwest of the Azores, blowing at 85mph without, at present, posing a threat to any landmass.

Coastal Cornwall, Devon and Dorset can expect unsettled conditions and disruption when it does arrive in the English Channel by Monday, according to the Met Office, but the weather front will have largely exhausted itself over the sea before making landfall in the British Isles.

Europe’s Iberian Peninsula and the western counties of the Republic of Ireland are expected to fare worse, with high-impact heavy winds, rain and treacherous maritime conditions in play, according to Met Eireann.

The arrival of the storm, forecast to reach Britain on Monday, coincides almost exactly with the 30th of anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987, which caused £1 billion in damage and saw 18 people killed.

The disaster lingers in the popular imagination as the moment when BBC weatherman Michael Fish surrendered the credibility of the entire meteorological profession with a famous gaffe, adamantly assuring viewers that there would be no hurricane, only to be proved comprehensively wrong by the country’s subsequent battering.

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said of Ophelia: “The forecast track takes it eastwards towards Iberia for the weekend.

“After that, indications are that by that point it will then have weakened and be no longer a hurricane or tropical storm, it will be extra-tropical.

“But then it will continue its way towards the British Isles, probably reaching us very early next week.”

The UK’s cold seas will have a calming effect on Ophelia, putting the brakes on its progress, Mr Burkill added.

“It’s definitely something that we are keeping an eye on, for the possibility of some disruptive weather early next week,” he said.