Ireland's national weather service says the country has seen 114 mph wind gusts, the highest ever recorded on the island.

Two red weather warnings are in place as winds of up to 100mph are forecast to hit Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Ireland has been hit with record wind gusts of 114 miles (183 kilometers) an hour as a winter storm batters the country and northern parts of the U.K. Schools have been closed, trains halted and hundreds of flights canceled in the Republic of Ireland,

A red wind warning has been issued for the whole of the Republic of Ireland, with Met Éireann warning of a possible "danger to life". The alert comes into effect at varying times from 02:00 on Friday and will end at varying times. Met Éireann has warned that "severe, damaging and destructive winds" are expected, with gusts of up to 130km/h.

ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks say they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continues to batter parts of the island.

High winds slammed parts of the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland on Friday as Storm Éowyn battered the area, sparking major disruptions to services as officials urged those who can to stay home.

Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are under the top-level red weather warnings for wind from early on Friday.

There are warnings of danger to life, fallen electric lines, damaged infrastructure and widespread power outages

Micheál Martin became Ireland’s taoiseach (prime minister) for the second time in his political career on Thursday, a day later than planned.

The storm had knocked out power to more than half a million utility customers by early Friday as it moved across Ireland.

Republic of Ireland defender Caitlin Hayes has ended her four-year spell at Celtic and sealed a move to Women's Super League side Brighton & Hove Albion.

More than 715,000 properties are without power in the Republic of Ireland as Storm Éowyn causes chaos across the island. In Donegal alone, 86,000 households were left without electricity on Friday morning.