Risk Of Coastal Flooding In Clare As Storm Erik Hits

Storm Erik could bring slightly warmer temperatures to the region.

For Scotland, the Met Office has issued a yellow warning for rain until Saturday at 3pm.

Meteorologist Nicola Maxey said: "On Friday we've got a named storm passing through the north of the country".

The Met Office originally predicted gusts of up to 70mph for Northern Ireland but, according to BBC Weather NI, there was a gust measuring at 76mph recorded near Killowen in Co.

The Status Orange warning is in place until 1pm today.

Peak gusts across Northern Ireland will be 60 to 70 miles per hour but could be close to 80 miles per hour towards the west coast of Ireland and this is why Met Éireann issued an orange warning for Galway, Mayo and Donegal.

High winds closed the coastal route between Kilwinning, Ardrossan and Largs, and part of the West Highland line between Craigendoran and Helensburgh.

The weather service said Erik will track to the northwest of the country and have issued a number of warnings.

Donegal has an orange warning from February 8 at 9am to February 9 at 6am, and the whole of Ireland has a yellow wind warning for the same time period.

Winds are expected to ease off by Sunday.

Sandbags are at the ready after the Environment Agency issued flood alerts to people in coastal towns and villages along the north Cornwall coast as Erik sweeps in from the Atlantic.

High winds that have battered the county for the past two days are set to continue over the weekend and some heavy showers are predicted.

It expects severe gusts of up to 80mph in that area.

Forecasters have warned of a risk of spot flooding, especially on coasts and hills.