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.

Around a million homes, farms and businesses across the island of Ireland were left without power on Friday following record-breaking winds. In Northern Ireland 189,000 homes and businesses remain without power following Storm Eowyn, NIE Networks has said.

Millions of people in Ireland and northern parts of the U.K. are being urged to stay at home as hurricane-force winds disabled power networks.

Police said Friday is expected to see the strongest winds in the region since the Boxing Day storm in 1998 which caused widespread disruption.

A new weather warning for ice and snow has been issued by the Met Office this morning, set to come into effect on Saturday evening at around tea time. In a statement, a Met Office spokesperson said snow showers and icy patches may lead to "some travel disruption for this evening and overnight".

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.

Record high winds from Storm Éowyn​​​​​​​ battered Ireland and Northern Ireland on Friday, leaving one man dead and almost one-third of Irish homes and businesses without power and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.