Hurricane Lorenzo is sweeping along the western edge of the Azores, having knocked down trees and brought possibly life-threatening water currents with winds of up to 90mph.
Local authorities closed roads, schools and non-emergency public services on Wednesday as the Category 1 hurricane reached the archipelago.
It also knocked out power for those on the worst-affected island of Flores, where Portugal's metereological service predicted waves could reach up to 25 metres.
Enormous waves from the #Azores islands, Portugal this morning 2nd of October due to the passing of #HurricaneLorenzo overnight. Report Meteorolojik IG #severeweather #Lorenzo pic.twitter.com/fJcmP7kazR
โ WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) October 2, 2019
WOW!! Amazing photo from the #Azores, Portugal this morning 2nd of October! Enormous waves reported due to crossing #HurricaneLorenzo overnight! #Lorenzo #severeweather report, @Meteos_ pic.twitter.com/yd7kjcgn3U
โ WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) October 2, 2019
"This might be the strongest [hurricane] in the last 20 years," Carlos Neves, head of the Azores' civil protection, said.
"Although it shifted slightly in recent days to the west, it has affected us in a very aggressive way."
Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Centre in the US said "dangerous conditions" would continue into Wednesday afternoon, adding that hurricane and tropical storm warnings were in place across the region.
Significant damage from #HurricaneLorenzo on the Azores Islands, Portugal this morning 3rd of October! Photos via Verรณnica Melo #severeweather #Lorenzo #Azores pic.twitter.com/d2LpuVb35C
โ WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) October 2, 2019
Hurricane Lorenzo is set to weaken to an extratropical storm after hitting Azores, before it moves north on its trajectory toward Ireland and the UK at the end of the week.
Dan Suri, the chief meteorologist at the UK's Met Office, said "wet and very windy weather" would hit western parts of the UK from Thursday after bringing "the strongest winds" to western Ireland.
It comes "with a risk of coastal gales developing in Northern Ireland and western Scotland on Thursday and Wales and south-west England on Friday," he added.
The hurricane broke records over the weekend after being elevated to a Category 5 storm, which the National Hurricane Center in the US says is the strongest for that far north and east in the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite being downgraded to a Category 2, it has still made deadly impact.
A search and rescue operation has been underway since the end of last week for the missing crew of a Luxembourg-flagged tugboat that overturned in the Atlantic after it ran into difficulties in the eye of the storm.
One crew member has been confirmed dead after their body was recovered from the ocean, the owners of the boat said in a statement on Monday.
Three are reported to have been rescued safely from a life raft, while ten are still missing.
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