torm Ophelia is bearing down on Ireland, putting the entire country on lockdown, as parts of the UK brace for 80mph winds with the Met Office warning of potential "danger to life".
Fears about the impact of strong winds have seen troops placed on standby and many public services in Ireland and Northern Ireland closed with schools, government buildings and courts among the services affected.
Remnants of Ophelia - which was previously classified as a hurricane as it made its way across the Atlantic - will reach home shores on Monday afternoon, resulting in "exceptional" weather - exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 left 22 people dead.
The Republic of Ireland has a red wind warning for the most severe storm to hit in half a century. An amber warning for Northern Ireland, where all schools are to be closed on Monday, is in force from 3pm.
The Met Office has warned of "potential danger to life" when Ophelia strikes western and northern areas of England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland later in the afternoon.
A yellow weather warning for wind will be in place for much of Wales, Scotland, north east England, north west England, south west England and the West Midlands from midday.
Watch live: Follow path of Ophelia
A Met Office spokesman said: "There is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.
"Flying debris is likely, such as tiles blown from roofs, as well as large waves around coastal districts with beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.
"This leads to the potential for injuries and danger to life."
Schools and colleges will be closed in Northern Ireland, which is covered with an amber weather warning - meaning there is a "potential risk to life and property", issued when forecasters believe people need to be prepared to change their plans and protect themselves from the impacts of severe weather.
Forecasters are warning of flying debris, such as tiles blown from roofs, as well as large waves around coastal districts with beach material being thrown on to coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.
More than 1,000 troops are on standby to deal with any destruction wrought by the storm, which is now a post-tropical cyclone but is still forecast to bring hurricane-force winds to Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In Ireland, the weather service issued a red warning, the highest level for severe winds and stormy conditions, for the whole country.
All schools and colleges have been closed, ferries cancelled, court sittings postponed and the Defence Forces put on standby ahead of the severe storm.
Weather forecasters have warned of a potential threat to life and advised the public to stay off the roads and away from the coast during the height of the storm if possible.
"Defence forces being deployed in Red weather alert areas and on standby for further action (on Monday)," Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tweeted. "Please check in with older neighbours and those who need medical care."
Met Eireann described the storm as the most powerful hurricane to have ever been this far east in the Atlantic on record.
It is also predicted to be the most severe weather to hit the country since 1961, when Hurricane Debbie made landfall.
The US National Hurricane Centre said the storm could bring two to three inches (50 to 75 millimeters) of rain in western Ireland and Scotland, with coastal flooding and "large and destructive waves" where it makes landfall.
Met Office forecaster Luke Miall said that while storms with these wind speeds tend to happen at this time of year, the one on its way is "quite a substantial system", adding that he would describe it as "pretty exceptional".
Mr Miall said that while Ophelia would no longer be a hurricane, it would still bring "hurricane-force" winds.
Meanwhile, airports are advising passengers in Ireland to check the latest information, with a number of Aer Lingus flights cancelled due to severe weather and the prospect of further cancellations with other carriers.
Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport was advising passengers to check the latest flight information before travelling to the airport, while Cork Airport said cancellations were likely.
A Ryanair spokesman said: "We will inform customers in the event of any changes to our flight schedule and the latest flight information will be posted on the Ryanair.com website."
Bus Eireann said it would not run School Transport Scheme services on Monday in the counties of Waterford, Wexford, Limerick, Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo.
Loganair in Scotland is offering free flight changes on routes that could be hit by the severe weather conditions.
Three decades on from Great Storm of 1987
The storm is arriving exactly 30 years to the day of one of the most memorable weather events in recent UK history.
On the night of October 15-16 1987, the UK was battered by hurricane-force winds with at least 22 people killed across England and France.
Devastation and recovery at National Trust properties
A series of photographs taken in the aftermath of the Great Storm of 1987 and of the same places today reveal how treasured landscapes have recovered.
The cyclone killed 18 people and caused an estimated £1 billion of damage when it struck the south of England 30 years ago. It also brought down around 15 million trees.
Photographs taken from a helicopter in the aftermath of the night of October 15/16 1987 revealed the devastation wrought in gardens and woodlands at National Trust properties.
The shoot was coordinated by Mike Calnan, now the conservation charity's head of gardens.
He said: "Seeing the gardens and woodlands from above offered a whole new perspective on the damage caused.
"As we hovered over Emmetts Garden everyone in the helicopter fell silent - it was like a war zone."
The National Trust has replicated the series of photographs three decades on at some of the most severely hit places - Emmetts, Chartwell and Knole, in Kent.
Pictures have been taken from the same vantage points, this time using drones, and show how nature has bounced back from the catastrophe.
Mr Calnan said: "It was quite moving to put the photographs next to each other and compare how different they are.
"After being shattered by the storm, our gardens and woodlands now look similar to how they did before, which is down to a combination of careful planning, hard work and time.
"We learnt a lot from the storm, which has shaped how we look after the places in our care today. Interestingly, areas that were left to regenerate naturally in some cases developed faster than those that we carefully replanted."
Some 58 National Trust properties across 13 counties, from Blickling Hall in Norfolk to Slindon in West Sussex, were affected by the Great Storm, with more than 350,000 trees lost on the organisation's land.
In the years after the storm the Trust planted 500,000 trees, in some cases selecting species better suited to extreme weather, and designed "shelterbelts" to ensure greater resilience to storms.
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