Ophelia strengthened to a powerful hurricane off Azores

On Wednesday, Tropical storm Ophelia strengthened into hurricane according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center ( NHC ) while on Thursday it reached category 2 storm with winds in excess of 100mph ( 161 km/h ).

On Saturday, Hurricane Ophelia strengthened off the Azores islands in the northern Atlantic Ocean on Saturday and was expected to pass to the south of the archipelago later in the day before taking aim at the British Isles , NHC said, adding that strengthening was possible over the next 48 hours.

Ophelia

, rare for its location and a powerful Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 114 mph ( 185 km/h ), was the sixth major hurricane of the Atlantic season.

The NHC expects a " gradual weakening " on Sunday, although Ophelia could " remain powerful over the next few days as it approaches Ireland."

Ophelia

is the tenth tropical storm to strengthen to a hurricane in the Atlantic, making of this year the first in more than a century in which ten Atlantic storms have reached hurricane strength consecutively.

On Twitter , the NHC issued an advisory saying Ophelia will likely bring direct impacts to Ireland and the UK as a post-tropical cyclone.

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