Tropical storm likely to just be hot air

Speculation that a tropical storm from the Bahamas will career into the South West this weekend has abounded today, following a Met Office announcement.

The tropical storm, a result of Hurricane Bertha, is currently off the north-east coast of the U.S. and likely to push northwards. Despite claims in the media that the storm could “smash” into the UK, bringing destruction in its wake, the Met Office itself is rather more sanguine about it.

At present, its view is that the storm is “expected to track across the Atlantic – and while there are still a number of possible outcomes, it looks increasingly likely that the UK will miss any serious impacts from ‘ex Bertha’.

"Some of the warm air which it drags across then leads to a new weak low which generates an area of heavy rain. This could move across northern France and possibly clip eastern parts of the UK on Sunday."

The Met Office has suggested that “a much smaller number of model outcomes suggest ex Bertha will move across the UK, which could bring some strong winds and heavy rain”, but that these outcomes are a 'minority'.

While there remains a good deal of uncertainty about the weather on Sunday, it currently looks as if it will be fairly unsettled with some rain and breezy conditions – but nothing too unusual for the time of year, and no severe weather warnings have been issued.

While some alarmist calls would have you believe you need to batten down the hatches, and stock up on supplies, the official warnings seem to indicate that an umbrella and sensible shoes will suffice.