Schools were closed and trains, ferries and more than 1,000 flights were canceled in the Republic of Ireland and the U.K., even as far south as London Heathrow, as the system, named Storm Éowyn (pronounced Ay-oh-win) by weather authorities, roared in.

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

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

Record high winds from Storm Eowyn 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.