THE country's strongest hurricane for 21 years is predicted to hit tomorrow on the 30th anniversary of 1987's Great Storm.
Even weatherman Michael Fish – blamed for missing the last one, the worst storm in 300 years – says there is a hurricane on the way.
The 500-mile wide Hurricane Ophelia’s is spinning north from the Azores and may bring 90mph gusts and huge waves. But Ophelia may also, today, deliver the hottest October 15 since records began 176 years ago – with 24C temperatures in parts of Britain hotter than Bondi Beach.
Hours before 1987’s Great Storm, Fish famously announced: “Apparently a lady rang the BBC and said she heard a was hurricane on the way. Well, don’t worry, there isn’t.”
That night, 18 people were killed and 15 million trees uprooted as 115mph winds caused more than £1billion damage across southern England.
Fish, 73, who now works for commercial forecaster Netweather, said: “I had a little problem 30 years ago. I said we don’t have hurricanes in Britain. But now we have Ophelia heading our way."
Heavy rain is also possible in parts of western Scotland.
Met Office forecaster Luke Miall said: "We do get these sorts of strengths of winds most winters. We generally get a few storms that will see these sorts of winds, but this is quite a substantial system because of where it's coming from as well.
"And to get that sort of south-easterly strength across the south east of Northern Ireland - you don't generally get that.
"You tend to get strong south-westerly winds because the systems come up across the northern half of the UK.
"So yeah I'd say it's pretty exceptional."
Mr Miall said Ophelia will have gone through a transition on its way across the Atlantic and will no longer be a hurricane, but will still bring "hurricane-force" winds.
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