Martin to aim at northwestern Europe as a large, powerful storm
Summer of 2022 was the hottest summer ever recorded for the whole continent of Europe, and if October is any indication, this fall is already following the same scorching pattern.
After becoming the seventh hurricane of the Atlantic season in the northern Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, Martin continued to sprawl into a large and powerful storm while churning across the northern Atlantic at the end of the week. Even though the storm transitioned into a post-tropical system on Thursday afternoon, it will remain potent as it continues to meander across northern parts of the basin and tracks toward northwestern Europe through the early week.
Martin will threaten to unleash heavy rain and strong winds that will impact travel and outdoor plans for several days across the region, especially in Ireland and northern parts of the United Kingdom, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. The stormy weather could come in a few rounds across northwestern parts of Europe.
Tropical Rainstorm Martin's circulation (about center) can be seen in this image captured on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. (AccuWeather RealVue™ satellite)
As is typical with tropical cyclones in this part of the Atlantic Ocean in November, Martin transitioned from a tropical entity into a post-tropical one. That transition happened as the storm ventured over colder waters and joined forces with a non-tropical storm emerging from eastern Canada.
Despite this transition, Martin will remain powerful and contain heavy rain and strong winds as it approaches Europe. Impacts will first arrive in Ireland and the U.K. and will eventually reach parts of Portugal, Spain and France.
Strong winds in the highest levels of the atmosphere will cause Martin's energy to spread out, driving rain and wind to surge into the region in a few different rounds. As a result, Martin's winds will continuously pound the western shores of Ireland and the northwestern U.K. for a few days. Rough surf, erosion and tidal flooding are predicted to occur in coastal areas.
The first round of unsettled weather began to arrive in the form of some rain in Ireland and the U.K. on Saturday, but with little in the way of strong winds.
More blustery weather will come with the second and third rounds of wet weather that will impact the northwestern part of the continent into Sunday night and Monday into Tuesday morning.
These final rounds will unleash rounds of heavy rain which can lead to some flooding, as well as strong wind gusts of at least gale force, or 39 mph (62 km/h) or greater, again mainly focused on Ireland and the northwestern U.K., including Scotland and Northern Ireland.
"It's not out of the realm of possibility that coastal Ireland and the U.K. could experience wind gusts to hurricane force,"said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tony Zartman.
Hurricane-force winds are at least 74 mph (119 km/h), which can easily cause some damage to trees and infrastructure.
Lesser impacts caused by rain showers and a gusty breeze will be felt in parts of Portugal, Spain and France by late Monday and Tuesday.
The heavy rain and strong wind threat will be coming just days after central and southern parts of the U.K. were soaked by Storm Claudio, according to Sky News. The U.K.'s Met Office issued yellow warnings for flooding rains and gusty winds into Wednesday.
Martin may be given a new name by the Met Office or another European meteorological agency, as it impacts northwestern parts of the continent early this week.
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