Brits are being warned to prepare for the remnants of Hurricane Oscar, according to the Met Office. The hurricane, which claimed at least six lives in Cuba and caused damage to over 1,000 homes, predominantly in the province of Guantánamo, has since moved eastwards and diminished in strength. However, its effects are expected to be felt across parts of the UK this weekend.
Aidan McGivern, a Met Office meteorologist, highlighted the upcoming weather conditions in a new YouTube video: “It’s later Saturday and into Sunday when the weather system contains the remnants of tropical storm Oscar. This is the remnants of the tropical storm, not at all a tropical storm itself of course at this stage but it’s tropical origins mean that it’ll only adds to the uncertainty through the weekend in terms of the speeds of weather systems as they move through.
“It also contains some additional moisture, so we could end up with quite a wet spell across western and more especially northwestern parts of the UK, so this weekend’s likely to be very mixed.”
The most intense rainfall is expected on Sunday, targeting areas such as Cumbria and Lancashire. Forecasters predict that more than 13mm of rain could pour down in just three hours along the Cumbrian coast, reports the Mirror. Western Scotland, particularly Ayrshire, is also set for a wet Saturday night.
Mr McGivern said: “We’re going to see weather systems move in, not just one but a few from the west and those weather systems are likely to mount up the rainfall across western and northwestern parts of the country, especially over hills and so that’s definitely something we’ll be keeping an eye on here at the Met Office.”
There are no weather warnings for rain in place as of yet, but the Met Office is closely monitoring the situation. This comes in the wake of considerable rainfall, particularly affecting Scotland, on Thursday.
Data from the Met Office shows more than 20mm hit the Outer Hebrides, while it remained drier in southern parts of the UK. Moreover, according to the Met Office, rain stands as the primary cause of disruption, hindering Brits from getting to work punctually.
Following a wet October marked by Storm Ashley that led to cancellations of flights and trains the previous weekend, the Met Office conducted research elucidating this issue.
The weather in Bristol is expected to be dry over the weekend, according to the Met Office forecast after rain throughout much of Friday morning. No rain is expected on Saturday with cloud, some bright sunshine in the morning and temperatures up to 15C. Sunday is expected to see sunshine for much of the day and temperatures up to 13C.