Met Éireann, the Republic of Ireland's national meteorological service, said that the country had faced wind gusts of 114mph in County Galway– the highest recorded wind speeds ever recorded on the island.

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,

The storm had knocked out power to more than half a million utility customers by early Friday as it moved across 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