Tail end of Hurricane Ernesto to land in Derry and Donegal midweek in the form of persistent rain

Meteorologists on both sides of the border have warned of the potential for wet and windy weather when the tail end of Ernesto reaches us mid-week.

Hurricane Ernesto – the third hurricane of the Atlantic season – battered parts of the Caribbean before affecting Bermuda and areas of the eastern United States on Saturday and Sunday.

It was downgraded to a tropical storm but regained hurricane strength at it moved north eastwards. It had reached the north western Atlantic near Canada by Monday.

While it is forecast to transition to a mid-latitude storm its remnants will now track eastwards across the Atlantic to Ireland.

"As is typical with these systems there is a high degree of uncertainty in the forecast, but current indications suggest Ireland may experience some associated wet and windy weather on Wednesday, August 21 through to Thursday, August 22,” Met Éireann said.

The Met Office is also warning of unsettled conditions and has issued a yellow rain warning for parts of western Scotland on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ernesto will weaken as it moves over the cooler waters of the northwest Atlantic during Tuesday, the Met Office said.

It will still, however, contain a lot of energy as Deputy Chief Meteorologist Tony Wisson explains: “Newspaper headlines suggesting that Ernesto itself is set to batter Britain aren’t accurate.

"The once powerful system itself will break down before it reaches us, but the warmth and moisture it once contained will become entrained within a mid-latitude frontal weather system.

"This will lead to unsettled conditions for the UK, especially across the north and west, with heavy rain and strong winds expected here.”

Tony continues: “Although August is usually associated with fine and settled weather, wet and windy weather such as this aren’t uncommon, as seen in previous years.”

The Atlantic charts show an area of low pressure associated with what will by mid week be Ex-Hurricane Ernesto tracking over Ireland and Britain over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.

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