Hurricane Kirk appears to be weakening to a tropical storm, but could still wreak havoc in Western Europe.
The remnants of the hurricane can be seen in Finland as heavy rains, but also as exceptional heat. Inka Soveri
A powerful tropical cyclone is currently raging in the North Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Florida in the United States, says Foreca. The storm named Hurricane Kirk, which started in Cape Verde about a week ago, has intensified over the course of a week, so that it was at its strongest during Friday evening and Saturday night, when the wind speed was momentarily over 60 meters per second.
At this point, Kirk was a category four hurricane. There are a total of five categories describing the strength of a hurricane.
During Saturday, Kirk has weakened to category three and is moving north of the Azores, approaching Europe.
– The hurricane is very powerful considering its location: usually fourth or fifth category hurricanes are found clearly further west, where the sea water is warmer, writes the meteorologist Markus Mäntykannas On Foreca’s website.
Next Wednesday, Kirk is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm west of Portugal. From there, the storm is continuing its journey towards continental Europe.
According to forecasts, the impact of the remnants of the hurricane can be felt in Western Europe: the wind can blow at hurricane readings, i.e. more than 33 meters per second, on the Iberian Peninsula and in France. Storm gusts are expected even more widely. Waves hitting the northern coasts of Spain and Portugal could be over 10 meters high, and heavy rains could cause flooding in western and central Europe.
Effects in Finland
During Thursday, the storm is predicted to move from France towards Scandinavia.
If the storm progresses according to the forecasts, it may push very warm air to the east towards the Baltic countries and Finland. In the Baltic countries, the temperature could rise up to around 20 degrees, and in Finland, 15 degrees could break at the end of next week.
The gusts of the hurricane will probably also bring heavy rains and stronger winds to Finland.
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