Babak Belurs

Rabu, 02 Oktober 2019

Boris Johnson: No-deal only alternative to Brexit plan - BBC News

Boris Johnson says there should be "no doubt" the only alternative to the Brexit proposals he will put to Brussels later is no-deal.

Addressing his party conference in Manchester, the PM said his plan would be a "compromise by the UK", but he hoped the EU would "understand that and compromise in their turn".

The European Commission said they will "examine [the proposals] objectively".

The UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October.

The government has insisted it will not negotiate a further delay beyond the Halloween deadline, saying this would be unnecessary and costly for the UK.

However, under the terms of a law passed by Parliament last month, the PM faces having to request another extension unless MPs back the terms of withdrawal by 19 October - two days after a summit of European leaders.

The European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker and Mr Johnson will speak on the phone later, and the two sides' negotiating teams will also meet.

In his speech, Mr Johnson said no-deal was not an outcome the government was seeking, but "it is an outcome for which we are ready".

On the eve of his speech, Mr Johnson told a conference fringe meeting, hosted by the DUP, that he hoped to reach a deal with the EU over the course of "the next few days".

What has the PM proposed?

The issue of the Irish border - and how to keep it free from border checks when it becomes the frontier between the UK and the EU - has been a key sticking point in Brexit negotiations.

Mr Johnson has said the solution reached by the EU and Theresa May, the backstop, is "anti-democratic" and "inconsistent with the sovereignty of the UK", claiming it offered no means for the UK to unilaterally exit and no say for the people of Northern Ireland over the rules that would apply there.

The PM used his speech to confirm parts of his offer to the EU.

He said that "under no circumstances" would there be checks at or near the border in Northern Ireland and the proposals would respect the peace process and the Good Friday agreement.

It included promising "a process of renewable democratic consent" for the Stormont Assembly on its relationship with the EU going forward.

He also referred to the use of technological solutions to ensure there was no hard border on the island of Ireland.

He said he did not want a deal to be out of reach "because of what is essentially a technical discussion of the exact nature of future customs checks when that technology is improving the whole time".

Mr Johnson also said he would "protect the existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and other businesses on both sides of the border".

He added: "At the same time we will allow the UK - whole and entire - to withdraw from the EU, with control of our own trade policy from the start."

The PM said this would "protect the union".

Echoing the main slogan of the conference, Mr Johnson said: "Let's get Brexit done on 31 October…to answer the cry of those 17.4 million who voted for Brexit [and] for those millions who may have voted Remain, but are first and foremost democrats and accept the result of the referendum."

He said the Tories were "not an anti-European party" and the UK is "not an anti-European country".

The PM added: "We love Europe. We are European.

"But after 45 years of really dramatic constitutional change, we must have a new relationship with the EU."

What does the EU think?

Before Mr Johnson's speech, a European Commission spokeswoman said they would examine the proposals objectively, adding: "We will listen carefully to the UK."

She said the EU wanted to agree a deal with the UK, saying "an orderly withdrawal is far more preferable than a 'no-deal' scenario".

But the spokeswoman also reminded the UK of its "well-known criteria", saying: "In order for there to be a deal, we must have a legally operational solution that meets all the objectives of the backstop.

"[That means] preventing a hard border, preserving North-South cooperation and the all-island economy, and protecting the EU's Single Market and Ireland's place in it."

The BBC's Europe editor, Katya Adler said the bloc wanted to do a deal and needed to be seen to try.

But she added it was "fundamentally misunderstanding the EU" if the prime minister believed the other 26 EU leaders will turn round to Ireland and say they have to accept the proposals just they want to have a deal.

What has been the reaction to his plans?

There were huge rounds of applause for Mr Johnson from within the conference hall, showing support from his party.

After the speech, one member said the PM was "exactly what we need", while another said she had been "inspired", adding: "We are so fed up with nothing happening, but we feel like something will happen now because we think he will deliver."

Leaving the hall, Tory MP Mims Davies described her leader as "bombastic Boris", saying: "That [speech] was a message to the country, a message to our party and a message to the EU - we are ready to get on with this."

But the PM's plan has been branded as "extreme" and "doomed to failure" by the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, who said his strategy was leading towards a no-deal.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the prime minister's speech was "absolute bluster" and he described it as a "cynical manipulation to get a no-deal".

Mr McDonnell also that any Brexit deal or no-deal should be put to the people to make the final decision.

The director general of the CBI, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, praised the PM's "optimistic vision for the UK".

But she said his plan "relies on a good Brexit deal".

"The UK is at a crossroads," she said. "[And] the no-deal turning ends in a very different place: a swamp that will slow the UK's every step for years to come."

What else did Mr Johnson say in his speech?

The PM also used the opportunity to criticise Parliament, saying it "refuses to deliver Brexit, refuses to do anything constructive and refuses to have an election".

He said: "I am afraid that after three and a half years people are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools."

Mr Johnson said the Tories were "the party of the NHS" because of their belief in capitalism, adding: "We understand the vital symmetry at the heart of the modern British economy between a dynamic enterprise culture and great public services precisely because we are the party of capitalism."

He praised London as its former mayor, but pledged to "unlock talent in every corner of the UK", and ensure safety with his existing policies of 20,000 additional police officers and tackling county lines gangs.

And he repeated more policy announcements from the conference on infrastructure, education, law and order.

Mr Johnson concluded: "Let's get on with sensible moderate one nation but tax-cutting Tory government and, figuratively if not literally, let us send Jeremy Corbyn into orbit where he belongs.

"Let's get Brexit done [and] let's bring our country together."

Mr Johnson's conference speech clashed with Prime Minister's Questions, which started at 12.00 BST.

Normally the Commons goes into recess for the Tory conference, but MPs voted against this amid the bitter fallout from the government's unlawful prorogation of Parliament.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab deputised for the prime minister, facing the shadow home secretary Diane Abbott over the despatch box.

He told MPs the government will present its written Brexit proposals to them later today.

Do you have any questions about Brexit?

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49906702

2019-10-02 12:11:42Z
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UK Brexit plans to include customs checks on island of Ireland - BBC News

The government's final Brexit proposals will include customs checks on the island of Ireland.

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said Boris Johnson's plans will see Northern Ireland "in a different relationship with the EU to the rest of the UK".

Boris Johnson is addressing the Tory conference before submitting the new proposals to the EU.

The European Commission said they will "examine it objectively" and "listen carefully to the UK".

The Commission's president, Jean-Claude Juncker will talk to the PM on the phone later, while negotiating teams will meet in Brussels.

In his first speech at the event as prime minister, he will call it a "fair and reasonable" Brexit compromise, and say only by leaving the EU on 31 October can the UK "move on".

Mr Johnson will also claim the public will no longer be "taken for fools" by those who want to delay or block the process.

Tory Chairman James Cleverly said the UK had been "flexible and pragmatic", and now the EU must be the same.

On the eve of his speech, Mr Johnson told a conference fringe meeting in Manchester, hosted by the DUP, that he hoped to reach a deal with the EU over the course of "the next few days".

The government has insisted it will not negotiate a further delay beyond the Halloween deadline, saying this would be unnecessary and costly for the UK.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson dismissed leaked reports that customs posts could be set up on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

He said suggestions the UK wanted "clearance zones" for goods as part of a package of alternative arrangements to replace the Irish backstop were wide of the mark.

While he conceded some customs checks would be needed as the UK leaves the EU's customs union and single market, he said technology could keep them to an "absolute minimum".

What is in the proposals?

The issue of the Irish border - and how to keep it free from border checks when it becomes the frontier between the UK and the EU - has been a key sticking point in Brexit negotiations.

Mr Johnson says the solution reached by the EU and Theresa May, the backstop, is "anti-democratic" and "inconsistent with the sovereignty of the UK", claiming it offered no means for the UK to unilaterally exit and no say for the people of Northern Ireland over the rules that would apply there.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the new offer from Mr Johnson included some new customs checks on the island of Ireland, and would leave Northern Ireland in a different relationship with the EU to the rest of the UK in some ways.

She said the plans were "based on the notion of consent", giving more powers to Northern Ireland's devolved Parliament - the Stormont Assembly - to shape its future relationship with the EU - despite the fact the assembly is approaching 1,000 days without sitting.

The proposals also suggest a time period for when the relationship between Northern Ireland and the EU could move on.

But the full and precise details of Mr Johnson's plan twill not be clear until after the prime minister's speech at conference.

Will the EU agree to the plans?

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier, Mr Cleverly appeared to put the ball in the EU's court.

"We have been in negotiating for some while," he said. "The UK has been flexible, but a negotiation means both parties need to be flexible.

"What we need to see now is the EU be flexible - and if they can be pragmatic and flexible, we can leave with a deal on 31 October. But we are going to leave on 31 October whatever."

Irish Fine Gael senator Neale Richmond told Today that the PM's plans were a "big move" from the withdrawal agreement made by Theresa May.

Mr Richmond said, under the plan, Northern Ireland would leave the customs union and "come out of the single market in all areas, apart from agri-food products and industrial products, and indeed it only stays in those areas for four years".

This, he added, would require "additional checks" on the island of Ireland - something he described as "extremely disappointing".

Laura Kuenssberg said there was a "real expectation and belief" in No 10 that "this is now the crunch point".

She said: "This is the moment…where the EU will have to respond and say [either] there is something that is a basis of a deal here, or not.

"And what Boris Johnson is trying to suggest is if the answer is not, then for him, that means no-deal."

The EU needs to see the precise details of Boris Johnson's proposals, but the direction of travel that has been coming through is different.

The very idea of customs check between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the promise of the use of technologies to ease the process that haven't yet been tried and tested, or don't even exist yet…that is a big no-no for the EU.

The bloc will look at the proposals carefully. They need to try as they do want a deal, and also they need to be seen to be trying.

But it is fundamentally misunderstanding the EU if the prime minister thinks at this stage the 26 EU leaders will turn round on the Irish prime minister and say: "Listen, you are going to have to accept this because we just want to have a deal."

It is also fundamentally misunderstanding the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her attachment to EU unity and the integrity of the single market.

And also it is misunderstanding that the EU sees this in a bigger picture. If suddenly now they were to back down to all of the prime minister's demands how would that look to other trade partners across the globe.

So EU leaders will be very careful not to rubbish the prime minister's ideas, to talk about them as a basis for an agreement, but if it is take it or leave it, they will be leaving at this point.

Will MPs agree?

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said it was particularly important Mr Johnson secured the support of the Democratic Unionist Party's 10 MPs.

He said: "I think it is very clear this deal is not going to fly unless Boris Johnson can bring the DUP along with him... one way or another he has to make sure they're on board."

BBC Northern Ireland political editor Mark Devenport said sources from the DUP were supportive of the proposals and had been kept informed during their development.

However, the party's leader, Arlene Foster, declined to say whether she had seen the PM's proposals.

She told the BBC: "What we are doing with this prime minister is working very closely with him and we will continue to work closely with him over the next couple of hours and days.

"I hope we do get a deal that is acceptable to the European Union and one that is good for the whole of the United Kingdom."

What is Mr Johnson going to say at conference?

Speaking in Manchester, Mr Johnson will suggest voters are "desperate" for the country to focus on other priorities and will contrast his determination to leave on 31 October with the "years of uncertainty" that he says would result from a Labour government promising another referendum.

"What people want, what Leavers want, what Remainers want, what the whole world wants - is to move on," he is expected to say.

"I am afraid that after three-and-a-half years people are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools.

"They are beginning to suspect that there are forces in this country that simply don't want Brexit delivered at all.

"And if they turn out to be right in that suspicion then I believe there will be grave consequences for trust in democracy.

"Let's get Brexit done on October 31 so in 2020 our country can move on."

Mr Johnson's conference speech is set to clash with Prime Minister's Questions, which is taking place at 12.00 BST.

Normally the Commons goes into recess for the Tory conference, but MPs voted against this amid the bitter fallout from the government's unlawful prorogation of Parliament.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will deputise for the prime minister, facing the shadow home secretary Diane Abbott over the despatch box.

Do you have any questions about Brexit?

Use this form to ask your question:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49894100

2019-10-02 09:38:22Z
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Boris Johnson presses U.K. elections as Brexit endgame nears - NBC News

LONDON — When Boris Johnson takes the stage Wednesday at the Conservative Party Conference, an annual get-together at which activists and lawmakers debate policy, chitchat and buy memorabilia, he will stand in front of banners proclaiming a three-word policy: “Get Brexit Done.”

He may wish it was that simple.

With the Brexit deadline set for Oct. 31, it’s still unclear whether the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on time, or at all. The seemingly never-ending divorce has become mired in furious debate and legal battles.

Oct. 2, 201900:35

All of which means the U.K. is highly likely to face an election, and soon.

U.K. elections are supposed to happen every five years but Johnson can call for one at any point — as long as two-thirds of lawmakers in the House of Commons vote in favor.

Johnson has already failed to trigger an election several times, but one could also take place if the prime minister loses a vote of confidence, which has long been threatened by opposition members of Parliament.

It’s set to be a turbulent and fractious occasion in which the prime minister pitches himself against Parliament and lawmakers who would “surrender” to the E.U. as U.K. politics continues to borrow tactics and tone from President Donald Trump.

The Brexit debate illustrates how U.K. politics continues to ape the partisan nature of U.S. politics and the aggressive sloganeering of President Donald Trump, according to Simon Usherwood, a politics professor at the University of Surrey.

Sept. 25, 201901:54

“It’s not just Trump, it feels a very American style, the way the debate has been over the past decade or more, with echoes of culture wars and people being entrenched deep in their bubbles and speaking to their base rather than reaching out,” he said.

“Trump’s willingness to shout down opponents and question their motives and accuracy and everything else about them — I don’t think we’ve quite got to that stage, but the happiness of No. 10 to just keep on arguing [with their rivals] I think is quite striking,” he said, using shorthand to describe the prime minister’s official residence.

At the moment, Johnson’s government is achieving very little.

The prime minister attempted to suspend Parliament for five weeks, only for the U.K.’s highest court to rule he had done so illegally, misleading the Queen in the process.

And he may not be able to make Brexit happen at all, at least not this year: Parliament has already passed a law forcing Johnson to ask the E.U. for a third extension to the Brexit process, keeping the U.K. inside the bloc until at least Jan. 31.

To the dismay of lawmakers who accuse him of using inflammatory language, Johnson calls the law a “surrender bill” as it removes the threat of a “no-deal” Brexit in which the country leaves without a divorce deal, something Brexiteers see as key to forcing concessions from the E.U.

In a fiery debate last week in the House of Commons, Johnson was condemned by lawmakers for his incendiary language, such as repeatedly accusing lawmakers of “sabotaging” the U.K.’s exit from the E.U.

A visibly upset Labour lawmaker, Paula Sherriff, told Johnson: "We're subject to death threats and abuse every single day. And let me tell the prime minister that they often quote his words: 'surrender act,' 'betrayal,' 'traitor.'"

Johnson dismissed her out of hand.

"I've never heard such humbug in all my life," he said, essentially accusing Sherriff of being deceptive.

Johnson also brushed away reminders that lawmaker Jo Cox was stabbed and shot to death a week before the 2016 Brexit referendum by a far-right attacker shouting "Death to traitors!"

“The people outside this house understand what is happening,” he said. “The leader of the opposition and his party don’t trust the people.”

The Scottish National Party legislator Joanna Cherry, whose legal challenge in the Supreme Court ended Johson’s suspension of Parliament, said the House of Commons had been “treated to the sort of populist rant one expects to hear from a tin-pot dictatorship.”

John Bercow, the Commons speaker, who will step down later this year, said the atmosphere during the debate was “worse than any I've known in my 22 years in the House.”

None of these admonitions appear to have had an effect on Johnson, who is intent on delivering Brexit to his Conservative Party base.

But as he has no majority in the House of Commons, meaning he can’t force through any new laws or change old ones — that also means he can’t currently get a Brexit bill through Parliament, a necessary step before the U.K. leaves.

A second Brexit referendum at this point seems unlikely, so the road ahead leads to an election. But it’s laden with risk.

“The danger in the Conservatives choosing that option [a people versus Parliament election] is it’s been flagged well in advance so it gives opponents more time to think of ways to counteract it or take the edge off,” Usherwood said.

“There’s this assumption there’s this big master plan, a big diagram somewhere in No. 10, but it doesn’t really have the feel of this is how it was supposed to be. That doesn’t look like a master plan. It looks a bit more improvised and panicky.”

A 1950 poster for the Ulster Unionist Party.The Conservative Party Archive / Getty Images file

In previous elections, Britain has seen the Conservative Party going head-to-head with the opposition Labour Party — a classic left-versus-right battle pitching a strong privately-owned economy against state intervention and higher spending.

Voters may next head to the polls with Johnson’s strident anti-establishment messaging about Brexit ringing loudest in their ears.

This isn’t the first time an election has been focused on the popular will versus elected officials.

“The language of the people against the government has quite a long history in our politics,” James Freeman, an expert in British political history, said.

“It’s not just the Labour Party attacking the government, or Johnson attacking Labour, it’s more about Parliament as an institution blocking Brexit,” he said.

“This idea that it’s a ‘Remainer Parliament,’ that’s new,” he added, referring to those who wanted to remain in the European Union.

As for the influence of Trump, Freeman pointed out that the phrase “Make Britain Great Again” was used by the Conservative Party as an election slogan more than once in the 20th century.

“Some of the people around [Johnson] are very familiar with why they think Trump has been successful, and probably there’s some crossover because Brexit happened before Trump got elected,” he said.

“National revival is a consistent theme in our politics, particularly on the Conservative side.”

It remains to be seen whether Johnson will find a way to make Brexit happen — but the effect of Brexit on any forthcoming election, and British politics and society at large, is inescapable.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/boris-johnson-presses-u-k-elections-brexit-endgame-nears-n1061076

2019-10-02 08:07:00Z
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Selasa, 01 Oktober 2019

In Blow to Hopes for a Brexit Deal, a Leaked British Plan Is Rejected - The New York Times

MANCHESTER, England — With time running out for a deal on Brexit, the Irish government and European Union officials have rejected the latest British thinking on how to resolve an impasse over the Irish border, a serious setback to prospects for a breakthrough.

Progress on the border issue is urgent if Britain is to agree with the European Union on the terms of its withdrawal, which is scheduled to take effect at the end of the month. Leaving without an agreement, experts warn, would mean a disorderly, possibly chaotic and damaging rupture.

The latest British plan, a set of informal proposals given to European negotiators, would create customs sites or zones to check goods on both sides of the border, and place tracking devices on trucks to monitor their movements. Parts of the plan were leaked, and made public Monday night by the Irish broadcaster RTE.

The idea of custom check zones was described in a post on Twitter as a “nonstarter” by Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney.

European officials have said that they have not yet received any formal proposals from the British government, but they have been making it clear that the leaked plan would be unacceptable. The reactions suggested that the two sides were nowhere near an agreement on the thorny issue with the deadline looming large.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain confirmed on Tuesday that he would present a formal plan “fairly shortly.” A summit meeting of European Union leaders is scheduled for Oct. 17-18 — a gathering that many see as the last chance of striking a deal.

An anti-Brexit sign near the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. — CreditPaulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times

Speaking to the BBC, Mr. Johnson said that some of the reporting about his plan was “not quite right,” but he did not dispute the overall strategy: Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom; and the Republic of Ireland, a part of the European Union, would be in separate trading and customs systems, requiring checks on many goods that cross the border.

The prime minister dismissed as unacceptable the alternative of having most of the United Kingdom operate under one system, while Northern Ireland remains tied to a different set of rules.

“In the end, a sovereign, united country must have a single customs territory,” he said. “When the U.K. withdraws from the E.U., that must be the state of affairs that we have,” he added, noting that Britain and the European Union were approaching “the critical moment of choice about how we proceed.”

Some progress has been made. In discussions with the European Union, Mr. Johnson has already accepted that Northern Ireland could remain within the European Union’s trade umbrella for agricultural and some food products, but he has refused to make the same concession for other goods.

Currently, Ireland and the United Kingdom are both members of the European Union, operating under the same tariff rules and product standards, so there is no need to check goods crossing the border.

Mr. Johnson’s comments suggested that the checking sites he proposes would not need to be near the border. But the idea of physical checks on goods, even at locations away from the frontier, is likely to breach one of the European Union’s negotiating red lines.

For Ireland, the imposition of any form of border checks is sensitive because removing the physical infrastructure separating the two countries was a central element of the peace process that unfolded in the 1990s. And without the support of Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, the European Union is unlikely to agree to any new deal.

Image

CreditPhil Noble/Reuters

Mr. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, negotiated an agreement with Brussels that would have kept the whole of the United Kingdom under Europe’s trade rules until a technological solution could be found to check trucks without stopping them. That arrangement, known as the Irish backstop, was reviled by hard-line Brexit supporters — one of the reasons Parliament rejected Mrs. May’s plan three times.

In a statement, Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for the opposition Labour Party, dismissed the latest British plans as “utterly unworkable.”

“They would place an enormous administrative burden on businesses and rely on technology that does not yet exist,” he added.

At the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, in northwestern England, there had been some optimism that if Mr. Johnson could strike a deal in Brussels, it might be approved in Parliament. Speaking on Monday, one of the most hard-line supporters of Brexit, Mark Francois, said he would consider any plan Mr. Johnson returned with and vote for it if it delivered a satisfactory withdrawal.

But Mr. Johnson’s critics, both in the British opposition and in Brussels, contend that he is not negotiating in good faith and is happy to contemplate the prospects of a “no deal” Brexit despite the potential disruption that would cause.

Parliament has already passed legislation intended to prevent Britain from leaving the European Union without an agreement. But Mr. Johnson has insisted that Brexit will happen at the end of the month, with or without an agreement.

Lawmakers have refused to allow Mr. Johnson to call a general election until he has requested another Brexit extension, something he has promised not to do.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/world/europe/brexit-irish-border.html

2019-10-01 10:51:00Z
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Man outside UK Parliament is 'rugby tackled' after dousing himself in 'flammable liquid,' police say - Fox News

A man was detained outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament on Tuesday morning after dousing himself in what police say appeared to be a “flammable liquid.”

The individual, who has not been identified, is currently being treated by first responders. No injuries have been reported.

“Man next to me at Parliament’s carriage gates appears to have poured (what smells like) petrol on himself,” tweeted Parliament member Huw Merriman. “Incredibly brave response from police, who are now helping him.”

BRITISH MAN CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE HE PARKED HIS CAR MORE THAN A WEEK AGO

Police in London have detained a man near the Houses of Parliament after he doused himself in what appeared to be flammable liquid. (AP)

The man apparently was “unhappy about a parking ticket in Essex,” a police officer at the scene told The Telegraph newspaper.

"He poured petrol on himself,” the officer added. “One of the lads rugby tackled him."

CLICK HERE FOR THE ALL-NEW FOXBUISINESS.COM

Additional information was not immediately available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/man-uk-parliament-flammable-liquid-police

2019-10-01 11:46:05Z
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Hurricane Lorenzo path latest: NOAA map shows direct track to UK and Europe - Express.co.uk

Hurricane Lorenzo is a large and powerful hurricane tracking towards the UK across the central Atlantic. A series of hurricane and tropical-storm watches are in effect across the Azores as the storm tracks closer to the region. Lorenzo is currently packing winds of 105mph, making it a Category 2 storm according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. But what is the latest of this barreling storm which is heading straight for the UK?

Hurricane watches are in effect for western and central Azores, including Flores, Corvo, Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terceira.

While a tropical storm watch is in effect in the eastern Azores for São Miguel and Santa Maria.

According to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory, issued at 5am AST (10am BST), the storm was located near latitude 28.7 north, longitude 43.1 west, roughly 690 miles west southwest of Flores in the western Azores.

The storm had maximum sustained winds at 105mph and was moving north northeast at 22mph.

Hurricane Lorenzo’s track is expected to continue its track in the same general direction but at a faster forward speed over the coming days..

On its forecast track, the centre of the storm is predicted to pass near the western Azores early on Wednesday.

Only slight weakening of the storm is expected before Lorenzo hits the Azores, with faster weakening expected on Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165km) and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 345 miles (555km).

These winds are not the only hazard posed by this dangerous storm.

The rainfall also poses a risk, with an expected two to four inches of rain expected to batter the western Azores and could potentially cause life-threatening flash flooding.

Lorenzo is also generating swells which are spreading across much of the North Atlantic basin and which are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: “Lorenzo is a real beast of a storm.

“It will be one of Europe’s strongest-ever tropical storms, as the Azores are part of Europe.

“Lorenzo is expected to move to the UK by Thursday - bringing a couple of days with potentially worse conditions than this weekend.

“There are scenarios from gales to storm-force 70mph-plus gusts, but there’s uncertainty. Big waves and heavy rain are likely, with the west most likely to be affected.

“Before then, five or six inches’ rain will fall between Saturday and Tuesday in the wettest places. It’s clearly enough for flooding concerns.

“People should keep up-to-date with warnings and consider their travel options.”

Over the weekend, it was reported that Hurricane Lorenzo hit a wind speed of around 160mph, making it a Category 5 hurricane.

The storm has weakened since that time but it will still pose a risk.

It is likely that tropical storm winds will hit the UK through Wednesday night, as the storm continues to pass over the north of Great Britain.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill added “Our attention then turns to Hurricane Lorenzo, this is tracking northeastwards across the Atlantic, it could head towards the UK.

“It won’t be a hurricane by the time it does so, but there is the potential that it will bring something more unsettled by the end of the week.”

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https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1184433/hurricane-lorenzo-path-latest-noaa-map-hurricane-lorenzo-tracker-uk-europe-news

2019-10-01 07:18:00Z
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Hurricane Lorenzo path latest: NOAA map shows direct track to UK and Europe - Express.co.uk