Storm Brian brings rain, wind to Ireland and UK on the heels of Ophelia
A roof at Turner's Cross Stadium and a gym at Douglas Community School in Cork, Ireland, were ripped off when ex-Hurricane Ophelia made landfall on October 16.
While cleanup and power restoration continues after Ophelia, Storm Brian will deal the British Isles another blow with strong winds and rain into Sunday evening.
After being named on Thursday, Storm Brian tracked across Ireland on Saturday and across the United Kingdom on Saturday night. The strongest winds occurred over the southern half of the British Isles, including areas that endured the greatest impacts from Ophelia.
Brian will crawl southward over the North Sea into Sunday night, allowing gusty winds to persist south of Scotland.
The slower pace of Brian led to a more prolonged wind event compared to Ophelia, which caused damaging winds over a three- to six-hour period in any given location.
As of Saturday morning, ESB Networks reports that crews have restored power to 363,000 homes, farms and businesses in Ireland while another 22,000 are still without power.
EBS Networks also reports around midday on Saturday that there have been a small number of new outages due to Storm Brian.
Northern Ireland Electricity Networks has restored power to over 55,000 homes and businesses.
On Sunday, wind gusts will generally be on the order of 30-40 mph (48-64 km/h) across the Isles. However, gusts to 50 mph (80 km/h) will focus on the western coasts of Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
The gusty winds threaten to blow around tailgating supplies and could impact the kicking game at the National League Football matchup at Twickenham Stadium in London on Sunday.
Worse for residents, the winds could also bring disruptions to air, rail and ferry travel. Dangerous crosswinds will threaten to overturn high-sided vehicles. Debris from Ophelia and loose lawn items could get blown around and further damaged by Brian's winds. People and animals could suffer bodily harm if struck by these items.
Seas will remain dangerous for boaters and ferries over the Atlantic Ocean, the Celtic and Irish seas and the English Channel.
Storm Brian comes less than a week after Ophelia battered Ireland and parts of the U.K. with damaging winds and downpours on Monday.
The powerful former hurricane resulted in three deaths, widespread downed trees and damage to homes.
The unsettled weather pattern will continue into next week with continued chances for rain and gusty winds.
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