Met Éireann has issued a Status Orange weather warning for strong winds ahead of the arrival of Storm Éowyn over Ireland this week.

The national forecaster has said that gale force southerly winds becoming westerly will bring severe, damaging and destructive winds on Friday (January 24).

There will be gusts of up to 130km/h across the country, with even higher gusts expected for a time.

The weather warning, which applies to the entire country, is currently valid from 2:00a.m until 5:00p.m on Friday.

A Status Orange storm warning for all coasts of Ireland and on the Irish Sea has also been issued.

Southwest winds, veering westerly, will reach storm force 10 on all Irish coastal waters and on the Irish Sea from 2:00a.m until 5:00p.m on Friday.

Met Éireann said that Storm Éowyn will potentially result in damage to power lines and power outages, structural damage and fallen trees.

The stormy conditions will make travelling conditions "very difficult" and may lead to disruption and cancellations to transport services.

High seas coupled with the very strong winds will lead to wave overtopping at high tide.

Liz Coleman, deputy dead of forecasting at Met Éireann, said that “Storm Éowyn will bring wet and very windy conditions on Friday, especially in the west and northwest".

"There could be localised flooding further into Saturday associated to the heavy rain and to the snow melt," she said.

Coleman said that "there will be a short respite from the weather on Saturday as Éowyn moves away".

However, Met Éireann is also watching a different low-pressure system, forecast to bring impactful winds and further rain on Sunday.

"However, in this case the situation is still too uncertain; we will provide updates as the week progresses," Coleman added.