Stoke-on-Trent braced for fresh battering as Hurricane Kirk heads to UK
Meteorologists have warned the UK could be hit with more heavy rain and strong winds as a hurricane drifts towards these shores. Hurricane Kirk is currently in the Atlantic but could bring 'some uncertainty' to the weather in this country.
It comes as some forecasters reckon after a spell of dry weather in North Staffordshire this week the Potteries could once again be hit by 'days of rain'. StokeonTrentLive reported how sunny spells moving in today (October 2) come courtesy of high pressure, currently centred to the north of the country.
While some parts of the UK could see bleak weather returning by the weekend, forecasters are split on the Potteries with the Met Office pointing to more dry conditions but the BBC predicting a wet Sunday. It's the Beeb that is predicting rain for most of next week with temperatures slowly falling again.
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Now the Met Office has said next week's conditions could well be affected by Hurricane Kirk - meaning heavy rain and wind. But if it should sweep over the UK it will have lost its strength and therefore be known as 'ex-Hurricane Kirk.
Tony Wisson, a deputy chief meteorologist has identified the different scenarios that Kirk could bring. He said: "Hurricane Kirk is currently in the tropical Atlantic. It is expected to move north into cooler waters, where it will lose a lot of its strength, but maintain its identity as a moderately deep low pressure system.
“There are complex processes involved when a hurricane undergoes what is known as ‘extra tropical transition’. This results in a lot of variability in the forecast, which means that predictability is low at longer lead times. Therefore, confidence in any one scenario is very low.
“There are a few apparent scenarios. One scenario suggests that this low pressure system could come close to, or even cross, the UK by Wednesday or Thursday next week. This would lead to heavy rain and strong winds in places. Another scenario is for the low pressure system to stay further west in the mid-Atlantic, keeping much of the associated rain and wind away from the UK. Other possibilities are also apparent, but we need to wait until we have more information, to determine which scenario will win out.”