Millions of people in Ireland and northern parts of the U.K. are being urged to stay at home as hurricane-force winds disabled power networks.

Hundreds of thousands of homes lost power as gusts of 183 kilometers per hour lashed the western coast of Ireland. In Scotland, hundreds of schools were closed and train operator ScotRail suspended all services.

The storm had knocked out power to more than half a million utility customers by early Friday as it moved across Ireland.