The Foreign Office has issued an urgent update for Portugal as Hurricane Gabrielle races towards the Azores. Gabrielle threatens to send up to five inches (13cm) of rain crashing across the central and western Azores on Thursday into Friday (September 25-26). The tropical storm is due to arrive in the Portuguese archipelago during the late afternoon, according to the Foreign Office’s latest travel warning. Its alert warns of disruption to services due to hurricane-force winds and possible flooding along the islands’ coasts.
Madeira, Porto Santo and the Azores are all covered by the warning, with Brits urged to monitor the storm on the US National Hurricane Center website. People have also been advised to follow any instructions from local authorities and to check with travel providers if they are due to travel.
Gabrielle was about 855 miles (1,375km) west of the Azores by late Wednesday and had maximum sustained winds of 85mph (140kph). It was travelling eastwards at 31mph (50kph).
Waves generated by Gabrielle have continued to affect Bermuda, the east coast of the US from North Carolina northward and the Atlantic coast of Canada.
Forecasters also warned that life-threatening surf and rip currents were possible.
Britain is set to see wet and windy weather this weekend, but the Met Office has said it won’t be caused by Gabrielle.
Rain is forecast to move in from the west on Friday night, with clouds and outbreaks of rain affecting most of the UK on Saturday into Sunday.
Met Office operational meteorologist Kathryn Chalk said this will mark “a change of tide” from some of the past week’s “lovely, fine and dry” weather.
Forecasters have said Gabrielle will miss the South of Britain. The Met Office said on Wednesday that from the Azores the hurricane will travel eastwards to the Bay of Biscay off western France and the northern coast of Spain.
Meanwhile, tropical Storm Humberto was 505 miles (815km) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 45mph (75kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Humberto is expected to affect the eastern coast of the US with 39mph winds forecast within the next five days.
