Hurricane Gaston to batter Britain with chaotic 70mph blasts
The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami warns the storm is heading across the Atlantic
WEATHER experts have warned Hurricane Gaston is set to batter Britain after blowing across the Atlantic from the United States.
The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami says the 90mph hurricane has formed off the coast in Florida and is heading northeastwards to the UK.
The storm is predicted to reach Britain by the end of next week generating violent 70mph gusts and gales.
Independent weather forecast provider MeteoGroup said: "Hurricane Gaston is the latest hurricane to develop in the Atlantic and has reached its peak with gusts up to 85 to 90mph.
"It will eventually head north then northeastwards towards to the UK as a low pressure system, potentially disrupting our weather next week."
The news will come another blow to Brits recovering from lousy bank holiday weekend weather.
There will be some sunshine on Monday following a yellow severe weather warning across much of England, the Met Office has said.
An estimated 3,000 lightning strikes hit Britain on Saturday and in the worst affected areas, such as Dorset, Oxfordshire and Yorkshire, there were thunderstorms and flooding.
These regions experienced more than 15mm of rain an hour, the equivalent of an average two-week rainfall.
Monday will see dry weather across the whole of England and Wales, with temperatures predicted to rise above 77F (25C) in London.
Although this is higher than average, it is lower than the temperatures seen in parts of the UK on Wednesday, with the mercury hitting 93F (33.9C) in Gravesend, Kent, on the hottest day of the year so far.
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Hurricane Gaston picked up strength Sunday as it swirled in the Atlantic east of Bermuda, the US the NHC reported.
The centre of Gaston was located 620 miles east of Bermuda this morning and was moving towards the northwest at a speed of six miles per hour.
Gaston became the third named hurricane of the Atlantic season on Thursday, but quickly weakened to a tropical storm.
It then strengthened and regained its hurricane status late Saturday.
The hurricane was forecast to turn north on Monday, and the NHC's five-day forecast cone has Gaston then moving northeast and into the open Atlantic by Thursday.
The NHC issued no coastal watches or warnings, though it did say that Gaston was expected to strengthen during the next 48 hours.
The Climate Prediction Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) initially estimated the Atlantic would see between 10 and 16 storms this year, but recently updated its prediction to 17.
The eight-week stretch between mid-August and mid-October is the most active period for storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, according to the NHC.
"The statistical peak day of the hurricane season -- the day you are most likely to find a tropical cyclone somewhere in the Atlantic basin -- is September 10th,"; the NHC website says.