Met Eireann has issued a Status Orange weather warning for 12 counties as storm Dylan is expected to hit Irish shores tomorrow night.

The national weather warning is in place for counties: Galway; Leitrim; Mayo; Roscommon; Sligo; Cavan; Monaghan; Donegal; Louth; Longford; Westmeath; and Meath.

Forecasters expect that the storm, set to arrive on Saturday night / early Sunday morning, will track northeastwards through Donegal Bay, and up along the north Ulster coast.

The biggest impact from the storm will be across Connacht and Ulster where average wind speeds are projected to reach 60 to 80kph, with gusts of up to 120kph.

Meanwhile, a Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for Munster, and the rest of Leinster, including counties Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Offaly.

Met Eireann expects that south-west winds from storm Dylan will reach mean speeds of 50 to 65kph, with gusts up to 100kph, from late Saturday night until the early hours of Sunday morning.

Both weather warnings will come into effect from 9:00pm tomorrow night, and will remain in place until 6:00am on Sunday morning.

Additionally, a Status Yellow wind warning also remains in place until lunchtime today for south Wexford, Galway, north Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and south Waterford.

The south-west winds are gradually veering westerly this morning; average wind speeds of between 50 and 65kph, with gusts of up to 110kph, were recorded in some areas.