Source: Shutterstock/Rainer Fuhrmann

IRELAND IS HEADING for a stormy start to next week, although it may be slightly less than the hurricane that has been mooted.

Currently, Hurricane Ophelia is gathering pace over the Atlantic, and is expected to make landfall on this side of the ocean on Monday.

However, it may not be as bad as all that – Met Éireann says it’ll have downgraded itself to a mere tropical storm by that time. So it’s bad, but it could be worse.

The sun above Dublin this morning at 8.30am Source: TheJournal.ie

“Current indications suggest a stormy day for Monday is possible,” says Met.ie.

But uncertainty on the detail remains, due to the nature of the track of the Atlantic storm system. The situation will be monitored throughout the weekend but at the moment it looks like it will be a windy day with further spells of rain.

So that’s good. It’s still set to be a rainy weekend, starting from tonight, with things remaining “dull and damp” throughout Friday and for most of Saturday and Sunday, with light-to-moderate winds from the south.

Today's rainfall radar. Oh yeah Source: Met Éireann

For the moment however, it’s very nice outside altogether, with Dublin currently soaking up some very welcome sunshine.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

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