An emergency alert has been sent to millions of people in Scotland ahead of a rare red weather warning.

People with compatible mobile phones living in the 22 council areas of the country expected to be worst hit by the storm received the alert at approximately 18:00.

Phones made a loud siren-like sound and vibrated for around 10 seconds – even if they were on silent. It is the first time the emergency alert system has been officially used in Scotland.

The Met Office said Storm Éowyn could bring winds of 100mph in some areas and there could be a risk to life due to flying debris, power cuts and damage to buildings.

The red warning will run from 10:00 to 17:00 on Friday and covers a large chunk of the central belt including Glasgow, Edinburgh, some islands and parts of south-west Scotland.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the emergency alert system had sent a message to every compatible mobile phone in the areas at most risk, containing information about the weather warnings and guidance on how to stay safe.

Approximately 4.5m people across the parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland covered by the red warning received the emergency alert in the largest real life use of the tool to date.

The UK government said it had well-rehearsed plans in place for severe winter weather and was working with teams from devolved governments, local authorities, the emergency services and other public bodies to coordinate the response to any disruption.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney told parliament that Police Scotland would issue a formal “do not travel” advisory notice and that the government’s resilience and emergency system (SGoRR) had been activated.

Outside of the red warning area, the rest of Scotland will be covered by amber and yellow alerts for wind and snow for much of the day:

• A red warning for wind across central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, south west Scotland, Lothian, Borders and Strathclyde regions lasts from 10:00 until 17:00 on Friday
• An amber warning for wind covering everywhere north of Perth, including Orkney and Shetland, lasts from 06:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday
• Another amber warning for wind covering everywhere south of Perth, though sweeping up the west coast encompassing the Isle of Mull, lasts from 06:00 until 21:00 on Friday. This will include the areas affected by the red alert after 17:00
• A yellow warning for snow, starting at 06:00 on Friday until midnight, covers parts of central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands and Argyll & Bute

Further amber and yellow weather warnings are in place for part of Scotland on Saturday.

Storm Éowyn – the first named storm of the year in the UK – will see winds rapidly increase from west to east throughout Friday morning into the afternoon, according to the Met Office.

Peak gusts of 80-90mph are expected to impact fairly widely in areas covered by the alert.

The weather service’s chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “We reserve the issuing of red warnings for the most severe weather which represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption, and that is the case with Storm Éowyn.

“While it will be widely very windy on Friday, with additional hazards from rain and snow, the strongest winds and most significant impacts are likely in Northern Ireland and central and southwestern parts of Scotland within the red warning areas.”

All schools in Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, Angus, Clackmannashire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders will be closed.

In the Highlands, decisions about school closures will be made on an individual basis.

Schools are expected to be open in Moray, Orkney, Shetland, and Aberdeen City.

The gusts are expected to create very dangerous travel conditions and cause significant disruption.

• ScotRail has already announced that all trains will be cancelled on Friday, and no alternative transport would be available.
• Train company Avanti West Coast – which runs cross-border trains – warned that passengers should not travel north of Preston, while Transpenine Express said it was “urging” customers not to travel to Scotland and LNER advised travellers to avoid going north of York.
• In Glasgow, the Subway will be closed.
• Bus services across the central belt are mostly cancelled, with Citylink scrapping all services in Glasgow and Edinburgh, First Bus not running any Glasgow routes and Lothian Buses only running outside of the 10:00 to 17:00 warning. Local SPT subsidised services are suspended from 09:00 until 18:00 and all My Bus services are suspended.
• CalMac said all its ferry services would be cancelled, while Northlink said ferry services were likely to be cancelled or delayed.
• Edinburgh Airport said whether flights went ahead was up to airlines. Glasgow Airport and Aberdeen Airport advised passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.

Police Scotland’s head of road policing Hilary Sloan said it was “very important” people did not travel, with driving conditions likely to be treacherous and severe disruption to public transport.

A number of bridges, including

The Forth Road Bridge is expected to close, as is the bridge that carries the A1 over the River Tyne in East Lothian. The Queensferry Crossing and Clackmannanshire Bridge are likely to close to high sided vehicles.

Flood gates at Broughty Ferry and Riverside in Dundee will be closed.

A number of health boards, including NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, have cancelled all non-essential appointments, with NHS Lanarkshire saying GPs in the area would only provide urgent care.

Sporting events and shows have also been cancelled.

Shops including Tesco have also warned of store closures.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution urged people near the coast to “stay vigilant” in the conditions and stay a safe distance from the water.

Energy supplier SSEN has warned customers should be prepared for the likelihood that their power supplies may be disrupted.

The company said they had increased their response teams to “10 times the usual levels” ahead of the storm, while 170,000 vulnerable customers have been sent text messages giving them advice on how to prepare.