A rare red alert for “very strong” wind has been issued for parts of the UK ahead of Storm Eowyn.

The alert, which covers all of Northern Ireland from 7am on Friday until 2pm, and parts of Scotland from 10am to 5pm, warns of “very dangerous conditions” and “widespread disruption”.

Tornados could also hit parts of the UK today, ahead of the storm, with forecasters warning of a danger to life.

The Met Office said changing conditions could trigger an explosive cyclogenesis – or weather bomb – with strong winds, rain, snow and gusts of up to 90mph expected on Friday.

The red alert is the Met Office’s most serious warning and means the weather is likely to cause “substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure”, according to the agency.

A series of amber and yellow warnings have also been put in place, threatening injuries and a danger to life.

Ahead of the strong gusts, all schools in Northern Ireland have been advised to close on Friday by the Education Authority.

Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan said: “I understand this will impact on the work of schools and indeed on other businesses and services, but the decision has been taken to avoid any potential risk to life for children and young people as well as staff.

“Schools should put plans in place today for remote learning so that pupils can study at home.”

The record for a gust in Northern Ireland is 124mph in Kilkeel, Co Down, in January 1974.

Across the border, Met Eireann has issued a rare nationwide red warning for wind across the Republic of Ireland, describing possible “danger to life”.

Irish premier Simon Harris has warned there is an “extreme” risk to life.

He said he had been briefed on the storm approaching Ireland from midnight, adding: “Storm Eowyn is dangerous, destructive and damaging.

“We cannot give a higher warning than nationwide red. The risk to life is extreme and real.

“You need to pay attention. Do not travel. Do not go near the sea.”

Read the full Sky News weather forecast

European storm forecasters Estofex issued a level 2 alert, saying there was a “risk of a few tornados” between 6am on Thursday and 6am on Friday.

“A strong event cannot be ruled out,” the meteorologists said.

“Given rapid translation of thunderstorms, any tornado could be long-tracked… The main tornado risk seems to evolve along and [south] of a Bristol-London line.”

Met Office forecasters explained the storm had a central air pressure of 1001hPa as of Wednesday evening, but this was expected to drop by 62hPa by the early hours of Friday.

“This is known as explosive cyclogenesis or a weather bomb and will bring damaging winds to some areas,” they said.

The major change in the UK’s weather was starting on Thursday, the Met Office said, with heavy rain and strong gusts triggered by a powerful jet stream pushing low pressure across the Atlantic and towards the country after a recent cold spell over North America.

The south coast of England, parts of the South West and much of the Welsh coast are covered by a yellow weather warning for wind from 7am until 6pm on Thursday.

Some coastal routes and sea fronts in these areas will be affected by spray or large waves, the national weather service said.

But as the storm arrives on Friday, rain and even snow is expected over parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and on higher ground in northern England.

The whole country is covered by at least one yellow weather warning on Friday, with warnings for snow, wind and rain in place.

The Met Office says the strongest winds are due to hit the north of England, south of Scotland and North Wales, where an amber wind warning is in place from 6am to 9pm on Friday – but the south of the country will also be affected.

Gusts of up to 90mph are more likely to be found along the more exposed coastal areas, while winds of between 60 and 70mph are expected inland.

The Met Office advised people to secure loose items outside homes as there could be a danger to life caused by flying debris.

Meanwhile, a rare, red wind warning has been issued by Ireland‘s weather service ahead of the arrival of Storm Eowyn, threatening to bring “severe, damaging and destructive gusts”.

Gale force southerly winds turning to the west are set to bring “extremely destructive gusts in excess of 130kmh [80mph]” on Friday, according to Met Eireann.

The “status red” warnings are in effect across all of Ireland’s 26 counties, throughout Friday morning and into the afternoon for some counties.

Mike Silverstone, deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office said: “Storm Eowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption on Friday. There are currently a number of weather warnings in place, with all parts of the UK covered by one warning at some point on Friday.

“Storm Eowyn is expected to cross Northern Ireland early on Friday morning. It will then continue north-east across the northern half of Scotland during Friday afternoon and is expected to be centred near Shetland during Friday evening.”

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National Highways, which operates motorways and major A roads in England, has urged motorists in the North West, North East and Yorkshire to plan for disruption on Friday.

It has warned of “a particularly high risk” that high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorbikes could be blown over.

Rail passengers also face being stranded in the north of England, as LNER warned there would be no trains in either direction north of Newcastle from 11am on Friday.

“Services north of York will also be subject to short-notice cancellation and significant delay,” an LNER spokesperson said.

“Alternative travel options will be limited due to the nature of the weather.”

Traffic Wales has said it expects “high winds” may result in the closure of Britannia Bridge on Friday, which connects the island of Anglesey with the city of Bangor.

In Scotland, a number of CalMac services scheduled for Friday have been cancelled.

The ferry operator has further warned that afternoon sailings on Thursday may also be “liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice”.

Meanwhile, ScotRail said it is currently working with industry partners and will share information on what impact the storm will bring to services “shortly”.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney posted on X: “Now that a rare red weather warning has been issued, I ask everyone to follow the advice that will be set out.

“It is vital we all do this to keep safe.”

Forecasters are warning of heavy rain along with strong winds on Thursday ahead of Storm Eowyn, which threatens to bring dangerous gusts of up to 90mph.

Coastal areas across much of Wales, southwestern and southern England are covered by a yellow warning between 7am and 6pm on Thursday.

Winds could reach 50-60mph over exposed coasts and hills with the peak times affecting western areas during the morning and eastern areas in the afternoon.

It comes ahead of an amber wind alert for some areas of the UK from 6am through to 9pm on Friday, with the Met Office warning there could be “a danger to life” due to flying debris.

Parts of northern England and Scotland are expected to face gusts of up to 60-70mph fairly widely, but 80-90mph along more exposed parts.

Check the latest weather forecast for your area

Widespread disruption

Eowyn is expected to bring “very strong winds and widespread disruption”, according to the Met Office.

There are separate yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow covering various parts of the UK on Friday, with a yellow warning for wind in Scotland continuing until 3pm on Saturday.

Red warnings across Ireland

Meanwhile, a rare, red wind warning has been issued by Ireland’s weather service ahead of the arrival of Storm Eowyn, threatening to bring “severe, damaging and destructive gusts”.

Gale force southerly winds turning to the west are set to bring “extremely destructive gusts in excess of 130kmh [80mph]” on Friday, according to Met Eireann.

The “status red” warnings are in effect across all of Ireland’s 26 counties, throughout Friday morning and into the afternoon for some counties.

Across all counties, Met Eireann warns of “danger to life” conditions, with potential impacts including fallen trees, power outages, dangerous waves on the coast, structural damage and travel disruption.

A red warning is only issued for “rare and very dangerous weather conditions”, according to the forecaster.

Meanwhile, a “status orange” warning – the same level as “amber” in the UK – also applies to all of Ireland’s counties between 2am and 5pm on Friday.

Met Eireann said it will start to become “very stormy” on Thursday night, before the centre of Storm Eowyn tracks just off the northwest coast on Friday morning.

All of Northern Ireland, covered by the Met Office, is also under amber warnings for wind on Friday.

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Sky News weather producer Chris England warned that parts of the UK also face rain and snow.

“Expect up to 4cm (1.6in) of rain over the Welsh hills, up to 10cm (4in) of snow over the hills of northern England and southern Scotland for a time and up to 25cm (10in) of snow over the hills further north,” he said.

“Drifting and blizzard conditions are likely, given the strong winds.”

A Royal Navy attack submarine surfaced close to a Russian spy ship off the UK coast in an extraordinary warning to stop spying on British undersea cables, the defence secretary has revealed.

John Healey, in a highly unusual statement to MPs, said the incident involving HMS Astute happened in November but the research vessel, called Yantar, then returned to UK waters this week.

To counter the first spying mission, he said he changed the navy’s rules of engagement to enable British warships and the submarines to get closer to vessel and better track its activities.

In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Healey said: “We see you. We know what you are doing. And we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”

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It is very rare for the UK to reveal details about the movement of its top secret fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

A decision to tell parliament that one of the submarines had surfaced next to the surveillance vessel underlines the extreme seriousness that the UK views the Russian activity back in November and again this week.

Mr Healey said the Russian ship had been used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.

The UK and its NATO allies are increasingly concerned about the risk that President Putin’s country poses to offshore cables, pipelines and other infrastructure.

Describing the most recent sighting, the defence secretary said Yantar entered the “UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast” on Monday.

He said that for the last two days, the Royal Navy has deployed Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset and patrol ship HMS Tyne to “monitor the vessel every minute through our waters”.

Navy rules of engagement changed

The defence secretary said he changed the navy’s rules of engagement so “our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar”.

He said the ship “has complied with international rules of navigation” and has since sailed into the North Sea.

Russia has said Yantar is an oceanographic research ship which is operated by its defence ministry.

Second incident in months

Mr Healey told the House of Commons it was the second time Yantar had entered British waters in recent months, after it was detected in November “loitering over critical undersea infrastructure”.

Back then, the Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine was used to warn off the spy ship.

‘Monitoring its every move’

RAF maritime patrol aircraft, minehunter HMS Cattistock, offshore patrol vessel HMS Tyne and surveillance ship RFA Proteus were also deployed “to shadow Yantar’s every movement”.

Mr Healey said: “I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move.

“The ship then left UK waters without further loitering and sailed down to the Mediterranean.”

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Mr Healey warned: “Russia remains the most pressing and immediate threat to Britain, and I want to assure the House and the British people that any threat will be met with strength and resolve.”

P-8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint spy planes will join the NATO operation to protect undersea cabling in the Baltic Sea, while RFA Proteus has also been deployed to monitor offshore infrastructure.