Hurricane Ophelia: People at work told to STAY as skies go ‘completely black’

Islanders on Aranmore, off the west coast of County Donegal, told how the sky suddenly went jet black at about 10am on Monday as they prepared for the storm which killed a female motorist, in her 50s, near the village of Aglish in Waterford, Ireland.

Noreen Muldowney, on Aranmore, told the Irish Independent: “The sky has gone completely dark.

“It’s changing very rapidly, it’s quite scary actually. 

“You don’t know what to expect and we are just preparing as best we can and hopefully it will pass.

“We have a bottle bank that we are trying to get emptied now before the storm hits as we’re afraid it will take off. 

“There is only mobile broadband on the island and it has been coming and going all morning so we’re worried we won’t have any phone lines or access to the internet later.”

Across the Irish Sea, the UK also experienced a strange phenomenon where the sky turned yellow and the sun red.

Many in the south west of England, Wales, Scotland and north east England, shared pictures of the bizarre episode.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge, told Express.co.uk Ophelia’s weather system on the west coast of Ireland was drawing air up from the south which contained dust from the Sahara desert.

As it is high in the atmosphere it has created “sunset at midday”, where more red light is coming through and blue light is scattered, he said.

Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has told citizens who have already travelled to work today to “stay where they are”.

He said: “Even when the storm has passed there will still be dangers.”

The Irish leader said trees will still be blocking roads and power lines will be down.

He advised people to stay indoors and check on neighbours and elderly relatives.

Mr Varadkar also said even if it seems calm now “it’s coming your way” and warned there will still be life-threatening dangers after the storm has died down.

Ireland was hit by the worst of the weather, with schools closed and around 130 flights cancelled at Dublin airport.

Schools and colleges were closed in Northern Ireland, which is covered with an amber weather warning, meaning there is a “potential risk to life and property”, issued when forecasters believe people need to be prepared to change their plans and protect themselves from the impacts of severe weather.

Scores of homes were without power, schools closed early, trees fell onto roads and bridges were shut on the UK mainland.

Remnants of the hurricane battered Britain’s west coast on Monday afternoon, with gusts of up to 80mph, exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 killed 18 people.

About 200 properties in Wales suffered power cuts, a number of schools closed early and the Cleddau Bridge was shut to high-sided vehicles, Pembrokeshire County Council said.

Flood warnings are also in place along the Pembrokeshire coast, parts of west Scotland, north-west England and Cornwall.

Planes were grounded at Manchester Airport, with 20 flights cancelled and passengers warned to check ahead.

The storm is expected to move across Wales, northern England and Scotland into Tuesday.

High winds are expected across the entire region, while a yellow warning is in place for much of Wales, Scotland, north east England, north-west England, south-west England and the West Midlands.

Parts of Scotland and Wales have also been upgraded to amber.

Forecasters are warning of flying debris, such as tiles blown from roofs, as well as large waves around coastal districts with beach material being thrown on to coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.

The Met Office’s Mr Madge, said: ”It will be gradually easing up into Scotland overnight and into Tuesday morning, it’s weakening as it goes.

“Parts of England, areas like the North West, are covered by a warning.

“The impacts will be felt in northern England into Tuesday.

“Winds will be 50-60mph, possibly gusting to 70mph, even in the yellow warning areas.”

In Ireland, Met Eireann has issued a “status red” weather alert for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork and Kerry, warning of severe winds and stormy conditions.

Met Office forecaster Luke Miall said while storms with these wind speeds tend to happen at this time of year, the one on its way is “quite a substantial system”, adding he would describe it as “pretty exceptional”.

Loganair in Scotland is offering free flight changes on routes that could be hit by the severe weather conditions.

The airline said at the moment it still intends to operate a normal full schedule on Monday and Tuesday.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has three battalions, 1,200 personnel in total, permanently on standby to assist with contingencies.

But an MoD spokesman said it has not yet received requests from any local authority for assistance.

Meanwhile, bookmaker Coral cut the odds on this month being the wettest October on record in the UK into evens (from 3/1) following a flurry of bets on Sunday morning.

The firm is offering 6/4 that the wind speed reaches 100mph in mainland UK next week, and 2/1 for there to be snowfall in October.