Met Éireann says the progress of Hurricane Lorenzo this week and any potential impacts for Ireland “are being closely monitored”.

The powerful weather system, which is currently threatening the Azores in the mid-Atlantic, was recently the most easterly Category 5 hurricane on record, surpassing Hurricane Hugo 30 years ago.

Forecasts beyond the next 48 hours “still of low confidence given the uncertainty” of the storm’s current behaviour.

Numerical prediction models currently show a wide spread of outcomes for the storm track ranging from Greenland to the north of France.

As of today (Monday 30 September) it’s expected that Lorenzo will transition into an “extra-tropical depression” between noon and midnight on Wednesday 2 October.

Met Éireann says its most likely path after this transition brings it to the northwest of Ireland without making landfall.

However, even at that it “still brings the risk of severe winds, possibly stormy conditions and very high seas”, as Met Éireann’s Deirdre Lowe told BreakingNews.ie.

Latest updates will be provided on the Met Éireann website HERE.