Remnants of Hurricane Ernesto could hit County Durham and the wider North East this week – bringing wind and rain, the Met Office has warned.

Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 storm last week as it moved towards Bermuda, after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda with Ernesto expected to pass near or over the island, and the after effects could be experienced in the region next week, the Met Office has said.

“On Thursday we’ll start to see the remnants of ex-Hurricane Ernesto coming,” said Andrea Bishop, a Met Office spokesperson.

“At the moment, we can’t pick out broad detail so there’s low confidence in what effect this will have on the weather.”

On the long term forecast for County Durham, the Met Office says that "stronger winds and increasing rain" will be set for the region on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

 

The Met Office forecast also predicts 50mph winds for County Durham on Thursday (August 22) - but winds could still reach up to 45mph on Wednesday (August 21).

Ms Bishop explained: “For the moment, the jet stream is split meaning that there is cooler, cloudier windier weather in the north, but the rest of the UK is a pretty nice day today, especially in the East.”

This week will bring more unsettled weather with wind and rain possible from Monday.

Ms Bishop said: “Monday sees the jet stream join together and bringing more unsettled weather for early next week with Atlantic fronts arriving.

“At the moment, there is fairly low confidence in where the wind and rain will be.”