"Debi" brings back fears of mass flooding, Britain and Ireland again on alert

Severe weather warnings are in place for Ireland and the UK as newly named Storm Debbie is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds. A handful of locations, including all of County Clare, east Galway, south Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath, are subject to red wind warnings, the highest possible level, for Monday morning.

Foreign media reports that the storm was officially named by Met Eireann on Sunday morning and is the earliest in the season that a storm in alphabetical order starting with the letter 'D' has ever hit the British Isles.

The agency warned that there is a risk of flooding and strong winds from Sunday evening. A yellow warning for wind and rain is in place for the whole of Ireland today, with Met Eireann warning it will be "very windy or gale force" amid heavy rain and possible squalls and hail. The warning ends at 15:00.

An orange warning is in effect from 1am to 5pm for the Irish Sea, where south-westerly winds will reach gale force 10. The alert, warning of disruptions and the possibility of residential and business flooding, is in effect from 6 a.m. to noon.

Storm Debbie's arrival comes after parts of Ireland and the UK were devastated by flooding during previous storms Babet and Ciaran. Record-breaking Storm Ciaran hit the Channel Islands with hurricane-force gusts of 104mph just weeks ago, causing flights to them to be cancelled.

Areas of Ireland and England also suffered damage, with 10,000 homes in Cornwall left without power and hundreds of schools forced to close. (A2 Televizion)