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

Five years after Brexit, Northern Ireland is still trying to adapt to a new model that keeps the British province halfway between London, Dublin, and Brussels, with tensions arising between historically divided communities,

Ireland has called in help from England and France to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people after the most disruptive storm for years.

Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are under the top-level red weather warnings for wind from early on Friday.

A rare “stay at home” warning has been issued for parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland as a severe storm lashes the region, bringing dangerous 100mph (160 kmh) winds and unleashing travel chaos.

Ireland's national weather service says the country has seen 114 mph wind gusts, the highest ever recorded on the island.

Ireland and Northern Ireland braced for a storm that officials warned could be one of the most dangerous they have faced when it hits early on Friday, forcing the closure of schools, universities and public transport.

Damage and power outages have been reported Friday as energy from a storm system that produced record snowfall along the Gulf Coast is bashing Western Europe with heavy precipitation and powerful wind gusts.

Storm Eowyn caused havoc Friday as it battered Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, killing one person and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power, flights grounded and schools shut, officials said.

Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are braced for a storm spiraling in from the Atlantic, bringing gusts of up to 100 m.p.h., with forecasters warning of a danger to life.

ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks say they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continues to batter parts of the island.

DUBLIN : Record high winds from storm Eowyn battered Ireland and Northern Ireland on Friday, leaving almost one-third of homes and businesses without power and forcing cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of schools and public transport.