Weather "potentially disturbed" next week

While some 300,000 people are expected to make their way to Screggan in Tullamore for the three-day National Ploughing Championships starting on Tuesday, they could be hindered by what Met Éireann have termed some "potentially very disturbed" weather next week.

The Irish Meteorological Service have said while there is "a lot of uncertainty in the details", "indications are for very disturbed weather" early next week.

According to Midland Weather Channel's Cathal Nolan, he claims it looks "increasingly likely that hurricane Helene will make landfall in Ireland at some point between 14:00 on Monday and 02:00 on Tuesday next".

"Currently Helene is 2000km southwest of the Azores and remains a category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds of 130kph and gusts in excess of 170 kph," explains Cathal of the Midland Weather Channel on Facebook.

" Helene is weakening however and should continue to do so as it crosses the cooler waters of the North Atlantic before impacting Ireland through next Monday/Tuesday.

"The latest guidance suggests that the strongest winds will occur along the south and west coasts, where gusts could exceed 130-140 kph.

"Overland gusts of between 110-120 are possible. The storm itself is still some time away and therefore it’s exact track and intensity remain difficult to pin down."

Cathal claims "Helene" has taken a very similar track to that of "Ophelia" last year, which is extremely unusual for an Atlantic hurricane.

"My concern at present is that the storm could deepen during its approach to Ireland, transforming from a Post Tropical Cyclone into a very powerful Atlantic Storm, which would potentially increase the winds along the west and south coast given the storms angle and interaction with the jet stream."