live from london, this is bbc news. trains cancelled, schools shot and millions told to stay home. as a storm eowyn batter is the uk and ireland. at red danger to life warning is in force across the entire island of ireland, the isle of man and later for parts of scotland. a gust of 140 mph has been recorded. gust of 140 mph has been recorded-— gust of 140 mph has been recorded. ., ., , recorded. the authorities say the are recorded. the authorities say they are prepared _ recorded. the authorities say they are prepared for- recorded. the authorities say they are prepared for today, | recorded. the authorities say l they are prepared for today, as much as they can be, but they are asking people to make their own preparations, as well. two key messages. stay at home and don't travel to stay safe today. don't travel to stay safe toda . , , ,. ., today. this is the scene at larus today. this is the scene at largs in — today. this is the scene at largs in scotland, - today. this is the scene at largs in scotland, with - today. this is the scene at - largs in scotland, with reports of trees coming down on the railway. we'll bring you all the latest as the storm sweeps across the region. also coming up... a judge temporarily blocks president trump's order to end automatic citizenship

for babies born in the us, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional". the un says the need for aid in gaza is "staggering", as palestinians returning to their destroyed homes following sunday's ceasefire. donald trump has signed an executive order declassifying files on the assassinations of presidentjohn f kennedy, his brother bobby kennedy, and the civil rights leader martin luther king. hello. you are live with bbc news. i'm catherine byaruhanga. millions have been urged to stay at home as storm eowyn brings potentially life threatening winds to the uk and ireland. the met office has issued a rare red weather warning for northern ireland and the scottish central belt, which means a danger to life. 4.5 million people received an emergency phone alert — many schools and large parts of the transport network will be closed in these areas.

and, as you can see from this map, it's a giant storm, and coastal areas could see winds of up to 100mph. an amber weather warning is in place for the rest of scotland, northern england and north wales with separate yellow warnings for wind and rain covering the rest of the uk. eowyn is also battering ireland which has recorded wind speeds of 114 miles per hour in galway — the strongest since records began. 0ur correspondentjoe inwood begins our coverage this hour. with winds of up to 100 miles an hour, there's only so much with winds of over 100 miles an hour, there's only so much you can do to prepare for a storm like eowyn. first to feel its force was the republic of ireland. a red warning is in place for the entire country. here, it's being called the storm of the century. next in the path of eowyn is northern ireland — where alerts have already sounded on people's phones. alert blares. all schools will be closed —

the first time this has happened since 2017. well, it's always difficult, i suppose, to make a decision to close the school. and i can understand the department and the education authority making the decision — albeit quite late on — i suppose, really, the health and welfare and safety of children and the entire school community is really vitally important. as it crosses the irish sea, gusts of up to 100mph are predicted, before it hits scotland. there's a red warning in place for part of the central belt, and they'll be monitoring disruption at this control room. but it's been decided it's too dangerous for any trains to run. this is a major weather event, and keeping our customers and colleagues safe is our number—one priority. because of that, we've had to make the very difficult decision to withdraw all of our scotrail services throughout friday to make sure that we keep everybody safe. much of wales and the north of england are under an amberwarning. there — like everywhere else in eowyn�*s path — disruption is expected,

and the advice is to only travel if you really have to. from this storm we're expecting airborne issues. so debris, potentially, power outages. so our advice would be to plan journeys if you are making those journeys. think about what you're doing in any circumstances, and keep safe. almost the whole of the uk is set to be under a yellow warning for high winds. yesterday in cornwall, there were even reports of a tornado. it wasn't caused by storm eowyn, but was a reminder of our increasingly unpredictable weather. joe inwood, bbc news. 0ur ireland correspondence updated me from county down where the red weather alert is in effect. it kicked in at seven o'clock _ is in effect. it kicked in at seven o'clock and - is in effect. it kicked in at seven o'clock and covers | is in effect. it kicked in at i seven o'clock and covers the

entire island of ireland, the highest whether one you can get, and the first time the whole island has been under a red alert. wins are really starting to pick up here on county down coast, we are lots of waves come over those sea walls and we're also hearing about potentially record—breaking wins in the republic of ireland, a gust of 114 mph has been recorded in galway, a potential record—brea ker. galway, a potential record—breaker. to give you an idea about the disruption caused in northern ireland today, every single school in northern ireland is closed. lots of public buildings are closed, flights have been cancelled, hospital appointments cancelled. public transport, trains and buses, not running for this morning at and lots of businesses have taken the decision to close and people are being encouraged to work from home. i did hear you speaking about some power outages. let me bring you the

latest i have on that because we are starting to hear that thousands of homes across every county in northern ireland are now without power and that figure rises to 560,000 homes in the republic of ireland, so that really gives you a sense of how impactful storm eowyn is already being across the island of ireland. here in northern ireland, we heard from the police service of northern ireland yesterday, they said they are declaring a major incident because of the storm and they said the gusts of wind we see today could be the strongest that we have to since 1998. yesterday, of course, 4.5 million people got that alert on their mobile phones across northern ireland and in large parts of scotland, warning them about the dangers of storm eowyn. i have heard from a lot of the authorities here across the island of ireland, who say they are as prepared as they can be but they are asking individuals to make their own

preparations, as well, to make sure you have candles at home or torches for batteries... batteries were torches, sorry, that's kind of thing but there are two key messages they gave out yesterday and the same today. do not travel today if you don't have to, especially during the red weather alert, until two o'clock, and stay indoors if you can, to stay safe. , ., ., , safe. tell us, how are people bracin: safe. tell us, how are people bracing for — safe. tell us, how are people bracing for the _ safe. tell us, how are people bracing for the impact - safe. tell us, how are people bracing for the impact of - safe. tell us, how are people bracing for the impact of the | bracing for the impact of the storm? ~ ~ ., ., storm? well, i think with a lot of schools _ storm? well, i think with a lot of schools closed _ storm? well, i think with a lot of schools closed and - storm? well, i think with a lot of schools closed and a - storm? well, i think with a lot of schools closed and a lot - storm? well, i think with a lot of schools closed and a lot ofl of schools closed and a lot of businesses closed, a lot of people are preparing just to spend the day at home. we are in a coastal town today on the county down coast. there are a lot of homes and businesses, actually, on this street. i'm doing some sandbags at the doors, they have been making their own preparations ahead of storm eowyn but for most people across northern ireland and the republic, this would usually be

a pretty busy spot, even at this time and this time of year, lots of people going for a morning jog and walking dogs. that is obvious and not the case this morning so i think a lot of people are heeding that advice. they are not travelling today but they are staying indoors to stay safe, at least until this afternoon because at 2pm then an amber warning kicks in. still very serious but not as severe as red and maybe people will re—evaluate the situation there. people will re-evaluate the situation there.— situation there. the red weather _ situation there. the red weather alert _ situation there. the red weather alert for - situation there. the red weather alert for parts. situation there. the red | weather alert for parts of scotland comes into effect at ten o'clock gmt and here is more from david wallace lockhart. fix, more from david wallace lockhart— more from david wallace lockhart. ~ , ., ., , lockhart. a couple of hours away from _ lockhart. a couple of hours away from that _ lockhart. a couple of hours away from that red - lockhart. a couple of hours away from that red level i away from that red level warning official in scotland. you can hear the wind picking appear. the red warning will cover vast swathes of the country, the entirety of the central belt, which crosses from the west to the east of scotland, takes in the cities of glasgow and edinburgh. it is

where the majority of people in scotland live and we can feel it starting to pick up now. we are right next to the river clyde and you can see the water starting to get quite a bit chow. starting to get quite a bit choppy, the occasional gust of spray going across the surface, and the trees on the other side starting to sway more and more as the morning goes on and storm eowyn approaches. widespread disruption already, schools closed, trains not running across the entirety of the country stop ferries to the scottish islands are not running, either. airports telling people who have flights booked to check in advance whether they are actually going to be taking off. the disruption goes beyond just travel. we have the courts closed today, we have had tesco supermarket in the last hour announcing they will be closing all of their stories in the affected areas. the police advice, official advice on this is the same as northern ireland. stay at home, only go

outside if absolutely necessary, and yesterday evening a reminder of the seriousness here, when people's phones got that emergency alert from the uk government, a message of washing up, a siren going off even if your phone is in silence, to stress the official advice, to tell people there is a danger to life that comes with a red warning. that is something that has never officially been used in scotland up until now, so i think something that's really stresses how seriously the authorities are taking this storm that is coming. let's speak to jake kelly — managing director of network rail eastern region. hejoins us from edinburgh. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. tell us what kind of disruptions could travellers see today as the storm begins to make impact?— see today as the storm begins to make impact? good morning. we have very — to make impact? good morning. we have very reluctantly - to make impact? good morning. we have very reluctantly taken l we have very reluctantly ta ken the decision today to close the railway in scotland, and in england north of preston and

newcastle and along the north wales coast to protect our customers and colleagues so we urge people not to travel. in other areas of a check before you travel. thousands of railway colleagues are out and about keeping the railway open but we urge customers to check before they travel elsewhere. what is your advice with travel plans for the weekend? figs what is your advice with travel plans for the weekend?- plans for the weekend? as we look into tomorrow, _ plans for the weekend? as we look into tomorrow, we - plans for the weekend? as we look into tomorrow, we will. look into tomorrow, we will have thousands of railway colleagues this evening and overnight repairing any damage that we find but we simply don't know how bad it will be so advice to customers tomorrow is to check with their operators on their website or at the national rail website before they travel to make sure their journey before they travel to make sure theirjourney is running as normal. ~ ., theirjourney is running as normal-— theirjourney is running as normal. ~ . ., , normal. we are hearing reports of trees having _ normal. we are hearing reports of trees having fallen _ normal. we are hearing reports of trees having fallen on - normal. we are hearing reports of trees having fallen on parts i of trees having fallen on parts of trees having fallen on parts of the railway in scotland. what is your assessment at the moment of the impact of the storm? ., �* , moment of the impact of the storm? . �* , ., storm? that's right, we are already getting _ storm? that's right, we are already getting reports - storm? that's right, we are already getting reports of l already getting reports of trees down on the railways in

scotland and indeed in england, as well. absolutely why it is worth checking before you travel today. we will do our absolute best to keep the railway running but please check before you travel. we have already _ check before you travel. we have already seen five named storms this winter season. talk us through the impact of these storms on the railways and how quickly you can recover. figs storms on the railways and how quickly you can recover.- quickly you can recover. as you sa , we quickly you can recover. as you say. we are _ quickly you can recover. as you say, we are experiencing - quickly you can recover. as you say, we are experiencing an - say, we are experiencing an unprecedented number of the storms, and with that comes issues of trees being blown down in front of trains, like flooding. we are spending tens of millions of pounds clearing away the most dangerous trees, installing more flood protection, strengthening viaducts and bridges and so on, but ultimately we are operating on victorian infrastructure and despite everything, and sometimes in some places we are very reluctantly making those

decisions we have made today. you are speaking to us from edinburgh at the moment and i understand you can already hear the strengthening winds. what can you witness at the moment? it is already starting to get very windy. that is exactly why we have taken the d