The Met Office has issued two yellow weather warnings for snow and ice covering 35 towns and cities - with the icy blast set to strike this weekend

Follow live as Storm Eowyn hits the UK and Ireland, with record-breaking winds already reported. The entire country is covered by alerts for wind and rare red weather warnings have been issued for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has issued an ice warning for the entire West Midlands region. The warning is in place from 3am until 10am tomorrow on Saturday (January 25), lasting for seven hours.

From Saturday, Storm Éowyn is predicted to weaken as it moves northeast of the UK. Despite this, Saturday will still be breezy for much of the country, with strong winds persisting in the north, but it will be drier for many.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: “The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, north-western Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.

Storm Éowyn is forecast to make landfall in Ireland late on Thursday before moving on to the rest of the UK on Friday according to Met Office models. The storm will bring gusts of 80mph to coastal areas and 60mph inland with potential for a danger to life caused by flying debris.

A red weather warning is the highest possible alert sent out by the Met Office. Red warnings are issued when there is a danger to life, along with the likelihood of substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and widespread damage to property and infrastructure.

Most of the dangerous weather will take place on Friday, however there are five weather warnings in place on Saturday, 25 Jan, including amber and yellow wind warnings in Scotland, two yellow snow and ice warnings in Scotland and Northern Ireland, plus an ice warning in the south of England.

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The Met Office has issued two new snow and ice yellow alerts, as wintry showers are expected to cause disruption.

Storm Eowyn has hit Britain and Ireland with “once in a generation” hurricane-force winds, cancelling more than 1,000 flights and leaving 250,000 homes without power as forecasters warn more is to come.