A status orange wind warning has been extended to 17 counties, as Storm Ali approaches Ireland.
Connacht, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, Clare and Kerry are all on alert.
Met Éireann says Storm Ali will track close to the west and northwest coast from the early hours of Wednesday morning.
South to southwest winds veering westerly will increase to average speeds between 65 and 80 km/h with gusts between 110 and 120 km/h for a time.
The core of strong winds will be along Atlantic coasts at first, and will then move quickly eastwards during the morning.
Status yellow wind warnings have also been issued for the entire country ahead of the storm's arrival.
A status yellow alert for Galway and Mayo is forecasting very strong and gusty southwest winds for a few hours on Tuesday evening, giving gusts between 90 and 110 km/hr.
While a separate yellow alert says it will be very windy across Ireland from early on Wednesday morning until the evening.
South to southwest winds will reach mean speeds of 50 to 65 km/hr - with gusts of 90 to 110 km/hr, strongest in southern, western and northern coastal areas.
Isolated heavy showers this evening, but otherwise dry and clear. Blustery with fresh and gusty southwest winds.
Becoming very windy later tonight as storm Ali approaches. Severe gusts are likely on Wednesday morning and it will stay windy all day pic.twitter.com/wZECtKDz0J— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) September 18, 2018
The Met Office in the UK has also issued a status orange warning for most of Northern Ireland ahead of the storm.
Very strong winds and heavy rain will reach Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland during Wednesday. @MetEireann and @metoffice have just jointly named this system "Storm Ali". Warnings will be updated later this morning. #StormAli pic.twitter.com/UIBCl5vmcw
— Met Office (@metoffice) September 18, 2018
Status orange is the second highest warning level, with people in affected areas being urged to be prepared for the expected windy conditions.
Meanwhile, a lower level status yellow warning applies to the entire the country from 5.00am on Wednesday.
Storm Ali is the first storm of the 2018/19 season.
Additional reporting: Jack Quann
