Rachel Obordo

With 100mph winds expected, millions of people in the UK and Ireland have been urged to stay at home due to a rare “weather bomb” brought by Storm Éowyn.

In Farnaght, County Leitrim, Ireland, 61-year-old Paul Butler says he’s glad they bought a generator last year after their home lost power at 5am on Friday morning. Butler, who works for a university, says the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has told residents that they cannot give an estimate on when power will be restored.

He said:

We have trees ripped off their stumps lying in the garden, the roof of our neighbour’s outhouse has been torn and a chimney pot fell off her roof just missing her car.”

I think it could be anything between eight-to-nine days for us to get power back, which is understandable. This storm is a particularly nasty one and is still raging here. We live in an old stone building and the noise last night from the wind was deafening.”

There is so much forestry around Leitrim that many of the trees have grown up into the power lines. It means that power crews have to cut through plantation wood before they can even start repairing faults.

In December, Storm Darragh knocked out our power for four days but intermittent power cuts are becoming normal. I think climate change is catching up with us.”

Camp site manager, Rachel Ellis-Lomas, from Dalbeattie, Scotland, says she is grateful to still have power but that part of her fence and greenhouse have been lost to strong gusts. The 48-year-old says the storm is “worse” than what she is used to and that previous ones have been “nothing like this”.

Ellis-Lomas said:

From about 7am the winds have been pretty bad. Our neighbour’s shed has been blown wide open and I think our greenhouse is probably going to go over. We’ve had howling from the gusts blasting into the eaves and our lights have flickered but the power lines are not down yet.

All the schools and shops have closed and the wind is so strong the conifers are diagonal. We’re hunkering down for now as it looks a bit unsafe outside but we’ll assess the damage this evening.”

If you’ve been affected by the storm, you can share your experience here.

Two major bridges in Scotland closed

Severin Carrell

Police Scotland has closed two major road bridges – the Tay Bridge which links Dundee with Fife, and the Clackmannan Bridge over the Forth, as Storm Éowyn’s impacts spread across central and eastern Scotland.

With roads across central Scotland largely empty of traffic, the force issued two terse press notices, which read:

The Tay Bridge is closed in both directions due to high winds. The central walkway is also closed. Please avoid the area.”

And:

Due to high winds the A876 Clackmannanshire Bridge is closed in both directions. Please avoid the area.”

Robyn Vinter

More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled and a number of main roads closed as millions of people in the UK and Ireland have been asked to stay home amid a red “danger to life” warning due to a rare “weather bomb” brought by Storm Éowyn.

The Met Office has advised of very dangerous conditions across Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, and significant disruption, with flying debris, fallen trees on roads, large waves and power cuts likely to affect the area covered by the red warning, where 100mph (160km/h) winds are expected.

Amber and yellow alerts for wind are in place across the rest of the UK, and going into the weekend.

240,000 homes in Northern Ireland without power

Lisa O’Carroll

The number of homes without electricity in Northern Ireland has jumped from 93,000 to 240,000 this lunchtime.

Translink has said it has cancelled all rail services for the rest of the day while dozens of flights have been cancelled.

The severe red weather warning remains in place until 2pm when the extent of power outages could worsen.

More than 70 alerts regarding trees fallen on roads have been recorded with some buildings damaged including an apartment block in South Belfast which lost part of its wall.

The roof of a leisure centre in Bangor has been significantly damaged.

725,000 homes and premises without power in Ireland

Lisa O’Carroll

Reporting from Dublin:

The number of homes and premises without power in Ireland has increased to 725,000, the Electricity Supply Board Networks (ESB) has said.

“The worst of Storm Éowyn has now passed for most of the country but with Met Éireann wind warnings remaining in place further outages may still arise,” it said in a statement.

ESB Networks and UK suppliers are both in touch with their European counterparts with a standing request for contingency energy supplies should they be needed.

The red weather warning has now passed in all countries in Ireland apart from Donegal where it remains in place until 2pm.