The Coastguard is advising people to stay away from coastal areas of the north and west for the next 72 hours.

A status orange weather alert is in place with high winds set to batter large parts of the country between now and Thursday.

The worst affected counties look set to include Donegal, Galway, Clare, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, where gusts of up to 130 kilometres an hour are likely.

Derek Flanagan from the Irish Coastguard Service at Malin Head in Donegal is pleading with people to be careful in seaside locations and to remain vigilant if they are near the sea.

“We’re saying to people be very vigilant, if you’re going to the coast to partake in any type of water sport, particularly if you’re going out to do any sort of hill walking or coastal hill walking, be very careful,” he said.

Flanagan also warned of the danger of slipping while near the water.

“The shore at this time of year is very slippy also ... we’ve had coast guard teams have to rescue people with broken ankles or legs because they’ve slipped on the slippy shores.”