In the areas around Galway on the west coast of the Irish island, the wind has blown with a strength of over 50 meters per second, according to Ireland's meteorological authority.
A massive power outage has affected more than 700,000 households on Friday morning, which is explained by the fact that the power grid and its infrastructure have been severely affected by the wind. There are reports of fallen trees on roads across the country.
The storm, which has been named Éowyn, is feared to cause significant damage in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Schools are closed and numerous flights and train journeys have been cancelled.
We cannot stress enough how cautious people need to be over the coming days, says the Irish government's crisis coordinator Keith Leonard according to RTÉ.
Please, just stay at home if you can, says Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill to BBC Radio Ulster.
Inhabitants in Scotland are also urged to stay at home. Further south, in parts of England, flooding is feared.
The bad weather is expected to move further over the North Sea towards Norway, but is believed to have decreased in strength by then.
The storm has partly originated from a weather system that caused unusual snowfall along the southern Gulf Coast of the USA, according to Accuweather's meteorologist Jason Nicholls.
