The alert was upgraded from an amber wind warning to a red warning on Thursday.

Red weather warnings are in place for the entire island of Ireland for the first time ever on Friday, as Storm Éowyn approaches. A previously issued amber alert for Northern Ireland was upgraded to red on Thursday morning.

Storm forecasters say "a strong event cannot be ruled out" in the UK - with an explosive cyclogenesis caused by a major drop in air pressure bringing the "risk of a few tornados".