Gusts of over 70mph were recorded across the UK as Storm Debi blew in.

An amber weather warning for wind – meaning buildings could be damaged and travel disruption was likely – remained in place on Monday afternoon for North West England.

Severe gales caused power cuts across the island of Ireland, with around 100,000 homes and businesses left without electricity.

An Irish postwoman in County Limerick was hit by flying debris but not badly hurt, her employers said.

British Airways said that, like other airlines, it had to “make a small number of cancellations” due to the bad weather which has reduced the number of flights air traffic controllers will allow to land per hour.

A spokesperson said: “We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”

Gusts of 77mph were recorded in Gwynedd, 74mph at Killowen in Northern Ireland and 68mph on the Isle of Man as the low pressure system moved across the Irish Sea.

The Met Office’s amber alert for North West England, covering coastal areas from Liverpool to Whitehaven, was put in place until 4pm.

Winds of 70-80mph were expected at the coast, with 60-65mph predicted for inland areas as Storm Debi moves from west to east, heading out into the North Sea this evening.

People were told to expect flying debris, tiles blown off roofs, road and bridge closures, public transport to be affected, possible power cuts and dangerous conditions by the sea.

Yellow warnings for rain were also in place across much of Northern England and northern Wales, part of North East Scotland and Northern Ireland.

And there could be more very unsettled weather, this time in southern England, on Tuesday, with thunderstorms and heavy rain coming in from the west.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said: “There will be band of squally showers from 5am.

“We could see some sudden downpours within that band of thundery showers, with 15-20mm of rain in a relatively short period of time, gusty winds and thunder and lightning.”

And there is the potential for more wet and windy weather later in the week, Mr Dixon said.

Storm Debi marks the earliest point in a storm season the letter D has been reached in the alphabet.

Storm seasons run from the start of September until the end of the following August.

The Met Office began naming storms in 2015.

Before 2023, the earliest month in which the letter D was reached was December, which happened in 2015 (Desmond), 2017 (Dylan) and 2018 (Deirdre).

The named storms in this year’s season so far are Agnes (September), Babet (October), Ciaran (November) and Debi.