Met Éireann has upgraded its weather warning to orange status in counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Sligo and named the approaching storm Hector.

South to southwest winds will reach mean speeds of 65km/h to 80km/h, with gusts of 110km/h to 125 km/h, from 9pm this Wednesday to 10am on Thursday.

Counties Dublin, Kildare, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Clare and Kerry are under a yellow warning for the same period, with mean wind speeds of 55km/h to 65km/h and gusts of 90km/h to 110km/h forecast.

In Northern Ireland, the Met Office has issued a status yellow wind warning from 3am to 3pm on Thursday, with gusts of 50mph to 60mph. The warning includes a small chance of damage to roofs and injuries from flying debris, and a slight chance of power cuts.

The storm will be accompanied by rain across the country from Wednesday evening, followed by showers on Thursday.

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