This weather model shows ex-tropical storm Ophelia of the west coast at 1pm on Monday

Storm Ophelia: current path suggests strongest winds on West coast and through midlands into north Leinster


Hurricane Ophelia, signalled to arrive on our shores on Monday, will be downgraded from an ex-hurricane and an ex-tropical storm by the time it reaches Ireland and the UK, but the ECM model shows the current track of its strongest winds travelling across west Munster through midlands, and into north Leinster.

However, the worst of the winds are expected to hit the West coast, reaching 150kph and potentially 160kph in the extreme West coast, by Monday night. The east of the country will escape the majority of its force, with wind speeds reaching 120kph.

This is likely to cause some disruption the further west you go. That's according to Midland Weather Channel's Cathal Nolan who says the wind storm could have the potential to cause power disruption and the felling of trees.

"This is quite likely as there's still plenty of foliage on trees this time of year."

The compact weather system which will arrive on Monday afternoon and will continue into the early hours of Tuesday morning, is the first notable storm of the year to reach Irish shores.

"It's unusual to see a hurricane system pass this far north," says Cathal. "This weekend it's generally expected to be fairly settled, with temperatures well above normal, 18 or 19 degrees. That's unusually warm for this time of year, and it could be these warm temperatures combining with Atlantic cold air that's causing this windstorm to be as strong as it is."

In weather terms however, it is still too early to say for definite whether this storm will impact Ireland to the forecasted strength as predicted, but as for now, it's current path suggests this will be a major weather event.

More updates to follow.