At 11.30am on Tuesday KFC anounced via its social media platforms that it will close all its branches at 6pm owing to the impending storm.

An announcement on Tuesday by the Met Office said the storm was expected to make landfall at 6pm, two hours earlier than initially predicted.

Many comments on KFC's post expressed outrage, saying staff needed time to get home safely and "that transportation may be hard to find."

Other comments criticised the Prestige Holdings administration, the parent company of the international franchise, asserting that all managers were at home safely.

Posts asking KFC to send satff home earlier exceeded 200 within hours of the announcement on Facebook.

Comments on Instagram were more friendly, with some requesting a "Hurricane Bucket" or other "storm specials."