Goodbye Ophelia, hello Brian…
Due to arrive on Irish shores on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 October, Storm Brian will be bringing a lot of rain and wind to the country, but early reports state that it will not possess nearly as much destructive capability as Hurricane Ophelia.
Maynooth Geography Professor John Sweeney told RTE Radio One:
“Tropical storm Philippe has already formed in the Atlantic after Ophelia. Brian will be the next one in the sequence and by the weekend it does look like it’s turning unsettled again but it’s all relative.”
“We won’t have the same occurrence as Ophelia hopefully for a very long time. We’re back to the normal winter storms climate, not the kind of big beast we say yesterday.”
Similarly, Met Eireann’s John Eagleton told the Irish Independent:
“At the moment, Storm Brian is nothing to worry about here in Ireland. It’s a moving depression rather than a hurricane. It’s moving south and will bring a lot of rain and strong winds. I don’t think it will hit Ireland as hard as it will hit the UK.”
Despite the lesser strength and re-directed aim, Storm Brian could potentially cause more flooding than Hurricane Ophelia, due to it predicted to arrive along side a high tide swell.
More information will be released in the days closer to the storm’s projected arrival time.
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