The counties most impacted include Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan.
Storm Hector is battering the north and north west coasts with gusts of 70mph - 125km/h forecast throughout the day.
A Status Orange Gale warning is in place for Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Sligo – while a Yellow Weather Warning for 13 other counties including Dublin, Kildare, Clare and Kerry is also in place.
There’s also a risk of coastal flooding as the winds coincide with high spring tides. Donegal Bay, Clew Bay and Galway Bay are among the coastal areas most at risk.
At time of writing, roughly 45,000 homes across the island are currently without power.
Donegal appears to be the worst affected as almost 1,000 homes and businesses are without power in Ballyshannon. There are also significant outages in Killybegs, Moville, Rossgier and Gweedore.
https://twitter.com/stevencooperdj/status/1007128733289984001
https://twitter.com/DonegalMaps/status/1007135308188659712
https://twitter.com/derek_toms/status/1007147618588389376
https://twitter.com/DonegalMaps/status/1007142642239574016
https://twitter.com/seimimac/status/1007141069312745473
The west and north west coasts will see the worst of Storm Hector as the Atlantic storm poses a high risk of coastal flooding on Thursday, arising fears over possible infrastructural damage to buildings.
https://twitter.com/MetEireann/status/1006796303135920128
According to Met Éireann, Friday will bring about a brighter day and with sunshine forecast in many parts of the country.
However scattered showers will develop throughout the day as cloud increases across Connacht, Ulster and west-Munster with temperatures of between 15 - 18 degrees forecast nationwide.
