Met Office upgrades alert to orange

THE Ministry of Education is expected to make an announcement by 8 pm on Thursday night about whether students should attend school on Friday in light of bad weather which has placed the country on a orange alert.

The Met Office website said an orange alert was the third level in a four-tier scale, and referred to "high risk to public safety, livelihoods and property."

At about 6.20 pm on Thursday, the ministry issued a statement on its Facebook page saying it would issue a further advisory on school operations by 8 pm.

It said that at 4.08 pm the Met Office had updated its adverse-weather alert to orange because an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) was continuing to affect TT, even as a tropical wave was expected by Friday.

The ministry said it continued to monitor updates from the Met Office and the Ministry of Rural Development on riverine levels and flooding in areas prone to this.

"Based on the weather conditions which develop over the next few hours and the guidance received, the Ministry of Education will advise the public of the final decision with respect to the operations of schools on Friday.

"The Ministry of Education will therefore issue a further update via the media and MoE social media channels by 8 pm today, Thursday, October 27."