Dublin: Storm Doris brought winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour to large areas of Ireland and Britain on Thursday, disrupting transport links and causing power cuts to tens of thousands of homes.
"Storm Doris has rapidly deepened over the last 24 hours as it has undergone what we call explosive cyclogenesis, making it a weather bomb," the Met Office, Britain's national weather forecaster, said.
A "weather bomb" occurs when the pressure inside a depression plunges and produces severe winds, the Met Office said.
Irish utility firm ESB Networks said the storm had caused some 770 faults in power networks around Dublin, leaving 56,000 customers without electricity.
"As the storm has still not reached its peak yet, we expect these numbers to increase," the company said.
Across the border in Northern Ireland, electricity provider NIE Networks said power had been cut to some 21,000 customers but engineers had repaired faults affecting 14,000 of them.
The storm also brought heavy snow to parts of Scotland, badly affecting road traffic and causing delays and cancellations to some flights.
London's Heathrow airport said it would operate a reduced flight schedule to ensure passenger safety.
