HURRICANE Ophelia is looking likely to turn into a Celtic storm, with weather forecasters predicting that Ireland and Scotland will bear the brunt of the high winds and torrential downpours heading the way of the UK today.

Ophelia has been downgraded from a category three hurricane to category two and is expected to weaken to a storm when it hits Scotland, according to some forecasters. However, they say it will still be capable of wreaking havoc.

High winds in the east of Scotland ahead of Ophelia’s arrival yesterday caused an EasyJet flight from Cyprus to Edinburgh to be diverted to Glasgow after the pilot reportedly aborted the landing.

By coincidence, the major part of Ophelia is due to hit the UK on what is the 30th anniversary of the Big Storm of 1987 which killed 22 people in England and France. Although Ireland, both the north and the south, is expected to bear the brunt, there are fears Ophelia could still be of considerable storm force when it arrives in Scotland this morning.

There is an amber warning in place for Northern Ireland but only a yellow wind warning in place for the west coast of Scotland from 12 noon today through to mid- afternoon tomorrow.

A Met Office statement said: “Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are possible. There is a slight chance power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage. There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles from roofs.

“It is possible that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves.

“There is also a small chance that injuries could occur from beach mat-erial being thrown on to sea fronts.”

Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries began cancelling west coast sailings last night and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency placed large sections of the south and west coast on flood alert.

Scotrail had not issued any warnings by last night, but one airline has already acted to assist its passengers should they wish to change their plans.

Jonathan Hinkles, managing director of Loganair, said: “Weather forecasts indicate that high winds and rain will impact on the west of Scotland from Monday afternoon through to Tuesday lunchtime.

“The possibility of weather disruption to our flights is increased, and we’re therefore offering customers booked to travel on certain routes on Monday and Tuesday the opportunity to voluntarily re-arrange their travel without charge.”

The Republic of Ireland’s Met Office issued a red warning — the most serious category of warning that predicts possible loss of life — for a number of Irish counties.

It predicted that coastal areas will be hit by winds in excess of 80mph from 9am today and continuing until tomorrow.

A warning was issued against unnecessary travel.

Gerald Fleming, head of its general forecasting division, said: “The track is very consistent and has been for days.

“The strongest winds will be along the south coast of Ireland.

“That’ll will be on Monday morning, and the storm will track up the centre again, going up along the western part of the country.”

Ireland’s Department of Education has told all schools in the eight counties affected by the red alert to remain closed today.

By contrast, Eastern England is set to enjoy unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures of up to 23C today, compared with an average for mid-October of 15C.