ALERT: Storm Ophelia death in Waterford serves as chilling warning during Storm Éowyn

Met Éireann has issued Status Red wind warnings for the entire country as Storm Éowyn tracks across Ireland early on Friday with wind gusts up to 170km/h on the west coast and possibly as high as 140km/h in other parts of the country.

Similar warning were issued back in 2017 when Storm Ophelia ripped through the country, killing three people. Their deaths serve as reinforcement of the "shelter in place" warnings being issued by authorities for the duration of the Storm Éowyn warnings.

Back in 2017, the first victim of Storm Ophelia was cancer support worker Clare O'Neill, a 58-year-old woman who died when a tree fell on the car she was driving in Co Waterford.

The powerful storm's second victim was 31-year-old Michael Pyke from Ardfinnan in Co Tipperary who died while clearing a fallen tree in his locality.

The third person to die during Storm Ophelia was has Fintan Goss, a young man in his 30s, who died when his car hit a fallen tree on the old road between Dundalk and Newry.

This time around for Storm Éowyn, Met Éireann's red warnings affect different counties at different times on Friday but they all warn of "gale to storm force southerly winds becoming westerly will bring severe, damaging and extremely destructive gusts in excess of 130km/h."

Workplaces, schools, business and public transport will shut down for most of Friday due to the storm which could be one of the worst ever seen in Ireland with one forecaster at Weather Alerts Ireland describing the readings for it as "scary."

Met Éireann say the storm represents a "danger to life" and list other impacts as, "extremely dangerous travelling conditions, unsafe working conditions, disruption and cancellations to transport, many fallen trees, significant and widespread power outages, impacts to communications networks, cancellation of events, structural damage, wave overtopping and coastal flooding in low-lying and exposed areas."

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The red warning for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford is in place from 2am to 10am on Friday. For Clare and Galway, the warning is in place from 3am to 12 noon. Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo will have a red warning from 4am to 12 noon. Cavan, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Roscommon and Tipperary will be under a red warning from 6am to noon on Friday while Donegal will be under a red warning from 6am to 3pm.

Separately, a Status Orange wind warning for Storm Éowyn will remain in place for the entire country from 2am to 5pm on Friday. 

In its wider forecast on the disruptive weather, Met Éireann is also forecasting snow for some parts of the country during Storm Éowyn, adding further to the hazardous situation.

They say: "The centre of Storm Eowyn will track just off the northwest coast on Friday morning with a swathe of extremely strong and damaging winds extending across the country bringing disruption.

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"Gale Force southwest winds over land, will veer westerly by afternoon with Storm Force winds likely in some coastal areas. There'll be scattered squally showers and more persistent rain is likely across the north of the country.

"Showers will turn increasingly wintry as the day progresses. Maximum afternoon temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees but feeling much colder due to the wind-chill factor. On Friday night, winds will begin to abate but it will stay rather blustery. A cold night with clear spells and scattered showers, some wintry. Lowest temperatures of -2 to +3 degrees with some frost possible towards dawn on Saturday as winds continue to ease."

There will be no improvement over the weekend with a second band of stormy weather set to hit Ireland on Sunday, possibly hampering clean-up efforts after Storm Éowyn.

Deputy Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann, Liz Coleman, said: "There will be a short respite from the weather on Saturday as Éowyn moves away, but we are 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.”

Met Éireann forecast for Sunday reads: "It looks set to turn wet and windy on Sunday with outbreaks of rain spreading from the south. Maximum temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees in strong and gusty south to southeast winds with gales at the coast."