Former hurricane Ophelia is set to smash into the UK on Monday bringing winds of up to 80mph forecasters have warned.

Although the storm wont be a hurricane by the time it arrives, it will still bring gale force winds to parts of Ireland and Merseyside.

#Ophelia is now a major Category 3 hurricane, remains on track to slam the British Isles with strong winds: https://t.co/Vc9PNplVu5 pic.twitter.com/d6BC3Gk77u

— AccuWeather (@breakingweather) October 14, 2017

Ireland is set to see the worst of the strongest of the winds as an amber warning has been issued for nothern parts of the country, as 80-90mph gusts are expected.

Latest forecasts suggest that Merseyside could now see gusts reaching 50mph+, which has caused enough concern to issue the region a severe weather warning during Monday night.

A yellow weather warning for #wind has been updated: https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs Stay #weatheraware @metofficeuk pic.twitter.com/q78nu4VXk9

— Met Office (@metoffice) October 15, 2017

The Met office are warning that the storm could cause power cuts, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs could happen, perhaps leading to injuries and danger to life from flying debris, they also warn.

#Ophelia now a major #hurricane (Cat. 3) w/ sust. winds of 115 MPH – very rare for this part of the Atlantic (S. of #Azores). @NOAA #GOES16 pic.twitter.com/TJd7e60I7d

— NASA SPoRT (@NASA_SPoRT) October 14, 2017

 

Mersesyide’s weather warning is in place from midday on Monday to 11:55pm on Monday.

The arrival of Ophelia comes on the 30th anniversary of the great storm of 1987, which hit southern England overnight on 15 October.

The storm caused over £1bn of damage and killed 18 people, however, Ophelia is unlikely to have the same impact.

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