Three people are reported to have died and thousands are without power as ex-hurricane Ophelia moves over Ireland. The storm was downgraded overnight, but authorities issued a red alert as it made landfall.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/N. Carson
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Ophelia - an unprecedented storm in Ireland
Ex-hurricane Ophelia has made landfall in Ireland, bringing strong winds and causing flooding, power outages and disruption to transport. Several fatalities have been reported.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/N. Carson
Better to stay inside ...
Tropical Storm Ophelia hit Ireland on Monday morning, carrying gusts of up to 128 km/h (80 mph). Irish Prime Minister or Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, urged people to stay indoors after it made landfall, warning of the dangers of the storm. But at least some have dared to confront the elements to watch Ophelia's approach over the sea ...
Image: picture-alliance/empics/N. Carson
... unless there's a good reason
... or take the seemingly inevitable selfie. But it is a risky activity, with the national weather service warning of "danger to life and property." A number of fatalities have been reported.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/N. Carson
A freak storm
Ophelia began as a hurricane out in the Atlantic, the largest ever recorded so far east, but was downgraded to tropical storm status as it made landfall. It is the 15th named storm of the 2017 Atlantic season.
Image: Imago/ZUMA Press/NASA Earth
Cornwall also feels the force
Huge waves caused by Ophelia also affected the southern UK, as here in the Cornish town of Penzance. But the very strongest winds are forecast to hit only Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The storm came exactly 30 years after the Great Storm hit southern England on October 16, 1987, leaving 18 people dead and causing widespread damage.
Image: Getty Images/M. Cardy
Waves in Wales
The storm also sent strong winds over the south and west of Wales. Here, people gather to watch huge waves strike the harbor wall and lighthouse at Porthcawl, South Wales.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Caddick
The desert comes to London
Ophelia has also brought an eerie atmosphere to London, as sand blown over from the Sahara turned the sky red. Weather has been unseasonably warm in England as well.
Image: Reuters/T. Jacobs
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Authorities in Ireland reported the first fatality on Monday after Tropical Storm Ophelia hit the country with wind speeds reaching 176 kilometers (109 miles) per hour on the southernmost coast.
National broadcaster RTE, quoting the local council office, said a woman died in the southeast country of Waterford when a tree fell on her car as a result of the storm.
Police confirmed a man had also died in an accident while clearing a fallen tree near the town of Cahir in the south. A second man on the east coast was also killed by a tree falling onto his vehicle, police said.
Ophelia made landfall after 0940 UTC, according to the Met Eireann national weather service.
Ophelia is the 15th named storm of the 2017 Atlantic seasonImage: Imago/ZUMA Press/NASA Earth
Widespread power cuts
Met Eirann said the storm was forecast to track directly over Ireland, bringing "violent and destructive gusts."
It warned that "heavy rain and storm surges along some coasts will result in flooding. There is a danger to life and property."
Some 210,000 homes and businesses have already been left without power. Schools and universities have shut, and airports in Dublin and Cork have cancelled many flights.
The Irish prime minister or Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, urged people to stay indoors and to check on their neighbors and elderly relatives. "It is coming your way and this is a national red alert. Even after the storm has passed there will still be dangers. There will be trees on the ground and power lines down," he said.
Cyclones, typhoons, hurricanes - the power of devastation
Cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes pack a devastating punch: wherever they go, they leave a trail of destruction. But how do these powerful tropical storms arise?
Image: AFP/D. Sarkar
Social distancing impossible during Cyclone Amphan
Residents along Bangladesh's coast are being moved to safety as one of the strongest cyclones in years strikes the region. Millions of people had to be evacuated from low-lying regions along the Bay of Bengal on May 19. But plans are complicated by the coronavirus precautions. Maintaining social distancing is nearly impossible.
Image: AFP/District Administration of Bhola
Typhoon season amid the COVID-19 pandemic
On May 14, Typhoon Vongfong slammed the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rains, destroying the city of San Policarpo in the eastern province of Samar. At least five people died and more than 91,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Typhoons are not unusual in the Philippines at this time of year. But the COVID-19 outbreak lockdown measures are exacerbating the situation.
Image: AFP/A. Beronio
Three names - one phenomenon
Hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are actually three names for the same phenomenon. Along the North American coast they are called hurricanes, in East and Southeast Asia they are called typhoons, and near India and Australia they are called cyclones. But despite the different names, they develop in the same way.
Image: Reuters
A cyclone is created
Tropical storms develop over oceans when the water temperature is at least 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). As the warm water evaporates and condenses, the air around it heats up and drags cooler air upwards, creating powerful winds.
The eye of the storm
The Earth's rotation causes the air stream to move around the eye of the storm, which can be up to 50 kilometers wide. This area is nearly completely free of clouds and wind.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A storm hits land
When a tropical storm hits a coastline, it becomes weaker due to the lack of warm water. In Australia, "Marcia" was soon downgraded to a category one storm, while "Lam" weakened after striking near Brisbane. Masses of water from the sea often cause the worst damage - as seen here in China after Typhoon Nanmadol in August 2011.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Chaos ensues
Hurricane Sandy was one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean. It caused waves of up to 4 meters high, fires, power outages and broken dykes. Sandy arrived with winds at speeds of more than 145 kilometers per hour. Cuba, New York and New Jersey were particularly affected.
Image: Reuters
Destructive vortex
Tornadoes however, are non-tropical whirlwinds that can occur anywhere a storm is brewing. Local temperature differences force warm air upwards and cold air down, and a column of warm air rotates upwards at an increasing velocity. Tornadoes are usually only a maximum of 1 kilometer in diameter.
Fastest storms
As the warm air rises, it forms a funnel, the main characteristic of a tornado. Inside the funnel, the speed of the air can be tremendous - up to 500 kilometers per hour. Tornadoes are the fastest whirlwind type of weather phenomenon.
Image: Fotolia/Daniel Loretto
Trail of destruction
A tornado can leave a trail of destruction several kilometers long. In the US Midwest, tornadoes occur several hundred times a year, as dry, cold air from the north hits damp, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. It's different in other countries - in Germany, for example, tornadoes occasionally occur along the coast.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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Unprecedented storm
Before being downgraded to a storm ahead of landfall in Ireland, Ophelia was the largest hurricane ever recorded so far east in the Atlantic Ocean and the furthest north since 1939.
The storm came exactly 30 years after the Great Storm hit southern England on October 16, 1987, leaving 18 people dead and causing widespread damage.
The eye of Ophelia is forecast to move across Northern Ireland and then Scotland. Although it will weaken during its progress, gusts of up to 129 kilometers per hour are still expected in the UK.
Other parts of Europe have also been affected by Ophelia, which has indirectly caused unseasonably warm weather in some regions, including Germany. Wind gusts spawned by Hurricane Ophelia have also whipped wildfires in Portugual and Spain, killing dozens of people.
