A record-breaking storm hurricane is making its way to the UK after hitting speeds of up to 160 mph in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Lorenzo is currently in the south Atlantic and is forecast to smash into parts of Britain later this week.
The storm has already made history by becoming the strongest hurricane this far north and east in the Atlantic basin, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
TheMet Officeexpects the tail end of the storm to reach the UK on Thursday.
The stormyweatherwill come after several days of “persistent” rain.
Met Officeforecasters have issued three days ofyellow ‘danger to life warnings’with more than 186 flood alerts across parts of England and Wales.
Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: “Lorenzo is a real beast of a storm.
“ It will be one of Europe’s strongest ever tropical storms, as the Azores are part of Europe.
“Lorenzo is expected to move to the UK by Thursday – bringing a couple of days with potentially worse conditions than this weekend.
“There are scenarios from gales to storm-force 70 mph- plus gusts, but there’s uncertainty. Big waves and heavy rain are likely, with the west most likely to be affected.
“Before then, five or six inches’ rain will fall between Saturday and Tuesday in the wettest places.
“People should keep up-to-date with warnings and consider their travel options.”
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In its latest warning posted on (Twitter) at 7. 43 am, the Met Office warned Hurricane Lorenzo had strengthened rapidly in the last 24 hours with winds in the Atlantic region near 160 mph.
It said however that the storm is expected to weaken.
Lorenzo has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm – the highest category, as wind speeds increased to higher than 155 mph.
And the tail end of Lorenzo is expected to hit Ireland between 8pm on Wednesday and 8am on Thursday. Forecasters predict that by 8pm on Thursday, the center of the storm will be at the south west of Ireland with gusts of around (mph.
The Azores region is also in its expected path and the eye of the storm could be over parts of Munster by Thursday evening.
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