Northern ireland could have a very tough play off draw tomorrow. And all eyes are on todays weather. Ican hear and all eyes are on todays weather. I can hear in kent. This area was devastated during the storm is 30 yea rs devastated during the storm is 30 years ago. I will be talking about the weather today and also looking back at what happened 30 years ago. More details throughout the afternoon. More details throughout the afternoon. Thanks. Coming up on afternoon live we stay with that theme. If youre being affected by 0phelia, then tweet us your stories and pictures. And lets also have your memories of the great storm 30 years ago. Hello, everyone, this is afternoon live. Ireland has been battered by storm 0phelia. One woman has died, thousands of people are without power, and hundreds of schools have been forced to close. Whats described as a violent and destructive storm with winds of 100 miles an hour is now heading for Northern Ireland, parts of scotland, and west wales. In the last hour Pembrokeshire Council announced it was closing all its scools because of severe winds. 0ur correspondent ben ando is in warrenpoint in country down in Northern Ireland. You can see behind you that it is coming. Yes, it certainly is. We arrived mid morning and we have felt the wind is getting stronger and stronger. To start with they were just gusts, but now they are steady winds, now almost blowing as over. Just as well the cameraman is holding on tight to the camera. You can see the lighthouse, which is remote controlled. There is nobody on there. You can see all these holiday caravans facing the onslaught of the storm. Because of where we are, all the wind is coming in from the sea. Earlier on we were at warrenpoint. People have seen what has happened in the south west corner of ireland and they have seen the Power Outages and the problems and they are getting ready for those in the best way they can. They are charging up their mobile phones and devices and getting food in the fridge. They are accepting they might lose power, and all they can do is write it out. We expect the peak in the next 2 3 hours. We expect the peak in the next 2 3 hours. 0n irelands west coast, they are used to strong winds and high waves. But they are preparing for a storm that threatens to cause enormous damage and destruction. Galway sits near the centre of 0phelias anticipated path. Ahead of her arrival, this city has been shutting down. Sandbags have been placed at the front of the seafront hotels. And in the city centre, store after store has signs saying they will not open today. The irish governments advice has been very clear if you dont need to go out, then dont. This is a national red alert. It applies to all cities, all counties and all areas. Also bear in mind that even after the storm has passed, there will still be dangers. There will be trees on the ground, there will be power lines down. 0phelia may no longer be classified as a hurricane but satellite pictures show the size of the remaining storm. Because of the dangers, all of irelands schools and colleges have been closed. Hospital outpatient appointments have been cancelled and the streets have been cleared. Bars have even been taking their bins back inside. And businesses are putting floodgates on their doors because of concern about the potential storm surge. The lifeboats are on full standby at the moment. The crews are there. The army are in the barracks ready to go. We were filling sandbags last night. If this is a national emergency, there are concerns that not everybody is taking it as seriously as others. If you look closely in the centre of this screen, you will see somebody swimming in galway bay this morning. People are being told they have got to be careful particularly with falling trees and broken power cables. As things stand right now we are approaching 100,000 homes and businesses without electricity. They are predominantly in an area from cork city, west and north up as far as truly. And broadcasters are among those being told to watch out. We are just outside at the moment and there are really powerful gusts of wind here. The worst of the winds are yet to come. This may be the remnants of a hurricane, but 0phelia seems determined to show the power she still has. Chris buckler, bbc news, ireland. People are getting ready for what they expect to be very high winds indeed. No rainfall at the moment. Things will get worse before they get better. Things will get worse before they get better. Chris fawkes from the bbcs Weather Service is here. Where is it now and where is it heading . We have been watching this for a few days. At the weekend it started off as a very powerful hurricane, category three. That was on saturday. You can see the eye in the middle of the hurricane. It weakened a bit as it came past portugal and spain. I cannot believe we are talking about the hurricane coming past portugal and spain. Why are we . It started off life in the azores, to the south west of the azores. The temperature is about 2k celsius, about a degree and a half normal, but that is not enough to form a hurricane. But we had cold air in high levels in the atmosphere and that over the unusually warm seas created the temperature contrast that is similar to the temperatures you get in the tropics where hurricane s are normally found. It is a bit of a freak one in the ingredients that came together to create it in the first place. Since then it is now working to the south west of ireland. That is the pressure chart. In the centre of that we have got low pressure. Pressure chart. In the centre of that we have got low pressurelj pressure chart. In the centre of that we have got low pressure. I had twea ked that we have got low pressure. I had tweaked a moment ago saying, i had no idea what he is talking about. That is the question . no idea what he is talking about. That is the question . I could decipher the question, but not the answer. 963 milliba rs. Decipher the question, but not the answer. 963 millibars. Since then it has been working northwards. These are norwegian fronts. And the guy who invented these did it round about the time of the first world war. When you talk about front, you think about the battle lines. This quy think about the battle lines. This guy thought it was the same. You get cold and warm air battling each other and that is why they are called fronts in the first place. Since then we have got Conveyor Belt models. Those were the occlusion front is on the southern tip of ireland you get a cold convex and thatis ireland you get a cold convex and that is where the strongest winds will be. That is where it is now . That is pretty much where it is now. The south coast of ireland has already had the wind gust of 97 miles an hour, which is incredible. These are the wind gusts in the uk. Northern ireland is about 50 so far. But that is not where the strongest winds will be. As the storm tracks northwards, it will take those winds across Northern Ireland. We have got across Northern Ireland. We have got a met Office Amber Warning for gusts reaching 80 miles an hour. The trees still have the leaves on and so with the strong winds they are more likely to be blown over because there is more area for the winter to push against. You are talking about power cuts, big problems on the roads. We have already had one death from a tree coming down. It is by utter coincidence are very similar situation to where we were 30 years ago. There is some irony there. There must be whether god. For now we are not done with it. Though strong winds will affect south west scotland, west and wales, some gusts up scotland, west and wales, some gusts up to 80 miles an hour. 0vernight the wind will bounce over the tops of the pennines and into the east of the pennines. In the central and eastern parts of england we could get winds of 60 miles an hour. That is Strong Enough to blow lorries over overnight and tomorrow. We are not done with this storm yet, the winds will get stronger over the coming hours and will tend to affect different parts of the uk. Coming hours and will tend to affect different parts of the uki coming hours and will tend to affect different parts of the uk. I know you are keeping an eye on it and we will be talking about it through the afternoon. Will be talking about it through the afternoon. The Prime Minister is heading to brussels for talks to try to end a stalemate over brexit negotiations. Shell have dinner with the eus chief negotiator Michel Barnier and the head of the European CommissionJean Claude Juncker days after the men said talks were in deadlock. Downing street says the meeting had been planned for some time though it wasnt in mr junckers published diary. Lets speak now to the leader of the liberal democrats, sir vince cable. Hes at westminster. Dinner are normally social events, but this will be difficult for theresa may. The negotiations are at an on pass and they should not be. We are approaching the Halfway Point in the negotiating timetable and a lot of detailed issues have not been discussed, so there is a big logjam to break. To be fair, there are failures on both sides. There is a rigid insistence by the European Union that they cannot talk about trade. That does not help in dealing with practical problems like ireland. 0n the other hand, the British Government do not know whether to take it seriously because different cabinet ministers are saying Different Things and there is a complete lack of clarity about what the coffman wants. They talk about a transition, but will it be like the eu or Something Different . There is a failure on both sides and theresa may has got a lot more to lose than they have. She will have to up her game. Are you concerned are no deal is still very much on the table . There is a risk and it would be disastrous and it would be particularly damaging to the uk. That is why it is not a credible threat. Somebody saying unless you give me what i want, i will slit my wrists. This is not serious or credible and it is damaging to morale in the uk and not helping us with negotiations. Effectively dropping that kind of language would be helpful. One question i know being asked in those corridors behind you, what has happened to the eu withdrawal bill . There is a problem with that bill in that it was originally part of the mechanism for switching the european law into british law, but it has got caught up british law, but it has got caught up in british law, but it has got caught upina british law, but it has got caught up in a wider argument about parliamentary democracy. What the government is in effect doing is shifting powers from parliament to the government of the executive. There are a lot of conservative backbenchers and labour backbenchers and ourselves who feel this is seriously threatening. There is a high probability if the bill is not changed, a lot of it will be fundamentally altered. The difficulty for the Prime Minister is she has to keep an eye on her backbenchers. A revolt there and she is in trouble. That is right. That is in trouble. That is right. That is the nub of the problem. The European Union negotiators do not know whether to take her seriously because they do not know if she will because they do not know if she will be there in six months time. They do not know if they make her a serious offer that she can deliver it because borisjohnson or someone else can veto it. Her authority is very much at stake and at this dinner she has to impress on the europeans that she is there to stay and what she promises can be delivered. At the moment she is talking to a sceptical audience. Thank you so much for your time. Lets cross to downing street and our chief political correspondent, vicki young. If anyone asks on the menu, you do not want anyone to say theresa may. Yes, that is right. After the last time when Jean Claude Junker said theresa may was deluded about what she was asking for and then there was a reply about unelected officials in brussels and it was none of their business. 0n officials in brussels and it was none of their business. On that ground things can only get better and theresa may wants to break this deadlock if she can. The views of people like vince cable, very much on the remains eye, but i have been talking to conservative mps and eurosceptics who do believe the British Government has made a generous offer. The speech theresa may made in florence, they think it is up to the eu to give us something back. One thing theresa may could say to them is, if you do not give anything to me, we are more likely to be heading towards and no deal scenario because there are people in her own party, the minority, they will say if the eu is not serious about the deal, there is no point carrying on with these talks. We need to know there is progress being made. The leaders of france and germany are very pivotal in all of this and no coincidence she has spoken to Angela Merkel in the last few days and president macron. It is about persuading them it is time to move forward to the next days, although the European Union are very concerned about the money. Although the European Union are very concerned about the moneym although the European Union are very concerned about the money. If you we re concerned about the money. If you were invited to a dinner party and they said it was only going to last 90 minutes, would you go . M they said it was only going to last 90 minutes, would you go . It depends who it was with. That answers the question. It will not be easy. No, it is tricky for her to do, but they feel face to face talks can get you somewhere so they feel it is worth doing. It has been in the diary at downing street for a while. We did not know anything about it. But it comes before this eu summit later in the week. The government was hoping that eu leaders would say it is time to move on and talk about a transition and a trade deal. It seems it will not happen, that could be put back to december. They are trying to ensure there is some kind of progress, they have something to show for the work that they have done. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines storm 0phelia barrels in with gusts of up to 80 miles an hour, one person has died and thousands of homes are without power. Theresa may is in brussels aiming to get the brexit talks back on track. Many young people have to borrow to meet basic living costs. In sport the latest football rankings are out and these will be significant when the world cup groups are drawn in december. England are 12th but will not be one of the top seeds in russia. Northern ireland will be conceded in tomorrows play off draw so could face italy for a place in the tournament next summer. The Welsh Rugby Union have changed their selection policy and players outside clubs of wales will only be considered for their country if they have one 60 caps. Rhys webb could miss the world cup as a result. Great britains world and olympic cycling champion Katie Archibald is joining one of the top womens rape racing teams. She hopes to compete on the road and down the track in the olympics. Facebook says it will help to train children in uk secondary schools about staying safe online. The social networking site, which has around two billion users, will pay two charities to develop digital safety ambassadors. It follows calls for the company to do more to deal with online bullying and terrorism related content. Heres our technology correspondent, rory cellan jones. Look who it is. Such a weirdo. Surrounded by bullies. What are you looking at. Im stupid and cant find a way out and you dont know where to turn for help. You are going to cry. Thats the dark side of social media as portrayed at the launch of a project designed to help schools combat abuse. Facebook is funding two charities to train children to act as digital safety ambassadors in every uk secondary school that wants them. Robert and poppy are already doing thisjob in their school. It means that you are making a difference both on the internet and in your school because you are making it a better and safer place for everyone. Its facebook, snapchat. Its something you can get involved in and help people out with it yourself. Facebook says Research Shows children prefer to turn to each other for help, rather than to a parent or teacher. Its an amazing thing to see a young person whos maybe encountered bullying in their life help another young person to work through that. Facebook is investing £1 million in this programme, not a huge sum when it aims to train tens of thousands of young digital safety ambassadors and, along with other social media firms, its under pressure to do far more, in particular agree a voluntary code of practice to make the internet safer. The culture secretary welcomed facebooks initiative but is hoping the social media firms will voluntarily agreat a new code. Will voluntarily agree a new code. If they end up saying, we are already doing enough, we have all got our own codes, we are all fine, what will you say . Look, we have said we dont rule anything out. We have said that we are prepared to take whatever steps we need to to get to the point where we believe the uk is the safest place to be online. On their own, young digital ambassadors cant make the internet safe. Politicians and parents may demand that facebook and others do more to end online abuse. Rory cellan jones, bbc news. We have been asking for your tweets on memories of the storm 30 years ago. A lot of people are saying that in the west of england the sun turned red this morning. A lot of people are asking what is going on . We can ask sarah. It is related to a free and it is an interesting answer, so do watch out later on for the answer to that. We want to hear your memories of 30 years ago and the great storm. If you have got any experiences of the days weather and photographs where you live, let us have them and you can get in touch with us right now. 0n the same day as parts of the uk are coping with the impact of storm 0phelia, by coincidence it is exactly 30 years since the great storm of 1987. It left 18 people dead, ripping up m