Record high winds from Storm Eowyn battered Ireland and Northern Ireland on Friday, leaving 560,000 homes and businesses without power and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of schools and public transport.

The storm brought record-breaking winds as it battered Ireland, Scotland and northern England on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of electricity customers were in the dark.

Millions of people in Ireland and northern parts of the U.K. are being urged to stay at home as hurricane-force winds disabled power networks and brought widespread travel disruptions.