WATCH: Offaly weatherman says 'this could be Ireland's strongest storm ever'

Cathal Nolan, of Ireland's Weather Channel, said Storm Éowyn could be one of the most severe storms ever to strike Ireland.

The storm will reach the Midlands early tomorrow (Friday) with a red-level weather warning for Offaly, Westmeath and Roscommon due to come into effect at 6am tomorrow and remain in place until 11am. A less-severe orange weather warning for strong winds will then be in place until 4pm.

In his updated forecast this morning, Rhode native Cathal Nolan said: "We expect that this could very well turn out to be one of the strongest storms ever to strike Ireland

"What we know so far is that Storm Éowyn is very much a risk-to-life storm. It has the potential to cause significant structural damage, and also the felling of numerous trees, right across the country.

"In Offaly, Westmeath, and up into Longford, these areas will see very, very strong winds of up to 140 or 150 kilometres per hour."

He added that wind gusts from storm could even exceed 200km an hour in Galway and other parts of the west coast.

You can watch his video here: