Record high winds from Storm Eowyn battered Ireland and Northern Ireland on Friday, leaving 560,000 homes and businesses without power and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of schools and public transport.

Experts warn the explosive "bomb cyclone" will bring deadly winds, heavy rain and snow and is expected to cause widespread disruption across the UK. A wind speed of 114mph brought by Storm Eowyn has been recorded in Ireland, the fastest since records began, forecaster Met Eireann said.

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,

Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are braced for one of the most intense storms in decades, with forecasters warning of extremely rare hurricane force winds and a danger to life

The latest named weather bomb, Storm Eowyn, has already set a wind speed record as 114mph gales were recorded in Ireland, forecasters have said - with the full brunt of the storm now arriving in the U