Oscar may bring damaging wind, heavy rain to the British Isles late Friday into Saturday

While Hurricane Oscar continues to spin over the open Atlantic Ocean, the British Isles are being put on alert for the storm to bring potentially damaging winds and downpours to the region as early as Friday afternoon.

While Oscar will no longer be a tropical cyclone when it approaches Ireland and the United Kingdom, it could still pack a powerful punch.

The exact track of Oscar will be key in determining the extent of the impacts felt across the region.

A track near or over Scotland would bring the full fury of the storm to the British Isles with widespread damaging winds, travel disruptions and localized flooding.

In this scenario, damaging winds would be possible across all of Scotland and much of the U.K. from Friday night into Saturday night. The most likely area to avoid widespread damaging winds would be southern England, but even this area would be susceptible to locally damaging winds and travel delays.

The hardest hit areas of Ireland and the U.K. could endure wind gusts of 60-80 mph (97-129 km/h) with exposed coastal and high elevation locations at risk for even higher gusts.

Winds of this magnitude can result in tree damage and power cuts while also delaying or shutting down travel during the worst of the storm.

A period of heavy rain could also result in localized flooding across Northern Ireland, northwest England and western Scotland. Rainfall amounts of 25-75 mm (1-3 inches) will be possible from Friday through Sunday.

<b>RELATED:</b><br><em><a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/united-kingdom-weather">United Kingdom Weather Center</a><br><a href="http://www.accuweather.com/get/weather?page=minutecast">MinuteCast® for your location</a><br><a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/london/ec4a-2/weather-radar/328328">Interactive United Kingdom weather radar</a></em>

If Oscar tracks farther north between Scotland and Iceland, impacts will be less severe across the British Isles.

This scenario would bring the risk for damaging winds to far northwest Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland while blustery weather would occur elsewhere.

Transportation delays and power outages would be limited to the hardest hit areas and flooding would not be a significant concern.

Outside of the hardest-hit locations, most areas would see a period of rainfall accompanied by gusty winds.

Oscar’s arrival could signal a shift in the weather pattern into a period of frequent storms from the Atlantic bringing the risk for damaging winds and downpours through the first half of November.

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