Ireland Issues Wind Warning for Monday as Ophelia Nears Coast

(Bloomberg) -- Ireland issued a status red warning for high winds as Hurricane Ophelia heads for the southwest coast on Monday, Met Eireann said on its website.

The warning, the highest on the nation’s three-level scale, is in place for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork and Kerry, the agency said Saturday on its website. Wind speeds could exceed 80 kilometers (50 miles) an hour on Monday. Status red means residents should take action, Met Eireann said.

Ophelia, which was about 295 miles south-southwest of the Azores in the Atlantic early Saturday, had winds of about 100 mph as it moved through the waters west of Spain, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Geimann in London at sgeimann@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bernard Kohn at bkohn2@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Rob Verdonck