Met Éireann has issued a Status Red warning for wind for four counties as Storm Éowyn approaches.

The impacted counties are Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick.

The national forecaster has said that gale force southerly winds, becoming westerly, will bring severe, damaging and destructive gusts in excess of 130kph.

The Status Red warning comes into effect at 3:00a.m on Friday (January 24) and will remain in place until 10:00a.m that day.

The warning comes with a range of impacts, Met Éireann said.

These include:

Danger to life;
Extremely dangerous travelling conditions;
Cancellation of events;
Wave overtopping;
Coastal flooding in low lying and exposed areas;
Unsafe working conditions;
Fallen trees;
Significant and widespread power outages;
Structural damage;
Disruption and cancellations to public transport.

Storm Éowyn has also triggered a Status Orange warning for the whole country.

This warning relates to gale force southerly winds, becoming westerly, bringing severe, damaging and destructive gusts of up to 130kph widely, with even higher gusts for a time.

The Status Orange warning will be in place from 2:00a.m Friday morning to 5:00p.m that evening.

Impacts of the wind during those hours will include:

Fallen trees;
Damage to power lines and power outages;
Structural damage;
Very difficult travelling conditions;
Disruption and cancellations to transport;
Wave overtopping.

Outside of those weather warnings, Ireland is under a weather advisory from 10:00a.m this morning to OO:00 on Saturday (midnight between Friday and Saturday).

In general, very strong to gale force winds are expected across the country, with the potential for damaging wind gusts and disruption in places.

Transitory falls of sleet and snow are expected too, especially across west and northwest counties. High seas and spells of heavy rain are expected also.

Met Éireann said it is continuously monitoring the evolving situation and weather warnings will be issued as confidence in the forecast of the low-pressure system improves.