let's go to hywel griffith, who is joining us from townsville.oks at it it's the calm before the storm and everyone is saying cyclone debbie could be as devastating as cyclone yasi in 2011? yes. they are having to prepare for the worst here, the wind is picking up a bit as we get closer to the impact time, you do to be around lunchtime australian—thai in queensland —— due to be. the impact zone goes from townsville in the north of the state down past bowen and ayr, stretching hundreds of kilometres. —— australian—thai. they feel it could go hundreds of kilometres and could go hundreds of kilometres and could go very slowly. it might hover over towns like this, particularly bowen, for some three orfour towns like this, particularly bowen, for some three or four hours, bringing those gusts, as you said, of around 250km/h and also heavy rain. we know how much rain is on the way because some areas have already had something like 650 millimetres of rain in the last 2a hours, in old money that is about two feet of rain in 2a hours. it's not just the wa

debbie is very close to mackay and townsville. currently packing winds of 155, gusts up to 220, we may be dealing with this system becoming a category 4 storm by the time it gets over into land. maybybe even dealing with windsp to 240 kilometers per hour. this is something very serious. forr those of you all along the centric coast of queensland you need to be gettingng out of the way of the system. this will be bringing a lot of rainfall not only over the potentially 250 millimeters of rainfall, that's flooding concern. we're looking at that possibility to last not just tuesday but wednesday and thursday, townsville to ayr, to mackay. be on the lookout for this very powerful storm that will be in play as we go through this week. as you wrap things up, i want to take a look what's happening with this pressure system in the deep south that. will bring strong thunderstorms, maybe even tornado concerns as well. strong winds as we go throughout the day on monday. hope you have a safe day wherever you are. here is your extended outlook

from townsville, hometown, from that city down towards ma kie, population about quarter of a millionery populated and a lot of people stand to be impacted. we think land fall in the predawn hours of tuesday, storm surge is what we're concerned about, work your way south of townsville. see storm surge up to five meters and some of those favorable communities as you work your way towards hide away bay and conway, some of the regions again, four, five meters of storm serge not out of the question. you take the high tide and with the storm serge, you're talking about the entire body of water rising to a new level. which will be four to five meters above sea level. a lot of areas have been evacuated. about 3,500 people evacuated and additional 2000. you take 150 kilometer are possible with the storm at land fall. if that is the case that's going to cause a lot of disruption right there on the costal community. something to keep in mind, that about 80% of all cyclone fatalities are associated with a water element not the wind element. so keep that in mind here and really go to show that yo

to northern queensland, places like hands and townsville, they are without problems at the moment.airlie beach will be difficult for a few days. even if the rain has stopped, you need to ensure that things are structurally 0k. the ensure that things are structurally ok. the whitsundays has been sold as a paradise, so the effect on tourism will be palpable. thank you very much for that updates. you've been watching newsday on the bbc. stay with us, we will be looking at brexit and how that could potentially affect london's status asa potentially affect london's status as a leading financial hub. we don't often feature monster trucks newsday, but we thought we would share this one with you. it is said to be the first time that a monster truck has pulled off this flip without crashing. defeat was managed in las vegas on sunday. do not try this at home. hello there. the next few days are looking unsettled, more cloud and outbreaks of rain across the country. one thing is for sure, remaining on the mild side. maintaining south or south—westerly winds. mild overnight, a lot of cloud arou

again, that will be done in the northern parts of queensland, cairns, townsville, but further south,rockhampton, places like airlie beach, that will be difficult for a few days because even if the rain has stopped and the wind has died down, you need to make things structurally ok. that has an impact on tourism. the whitsundays are sold asa on tourism. the whitsundays are sold as a paradise, paradise needs to be cleaned up and tidied up for a fair few days before things return to normal. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. after months of passionate debate, the british prime minister, theresa may, has signed an historic letter formally triggering the uk's departure from the european union. as it's handed over in brussels at lunchtime on wednesday, mr may will urge the country to unite and two years of negotiations with the eu will begin. our correspondent eleanor garnier told me more about the issues involved. there are really two elements if you like to negotiations ahead. on the one hand the withdrawal agreements. the difficult things about eu citizens living here in

very concerned about townsville, these city population together, sits out around quarter million people. you know australia's population about 23 million for the entire continent. you come up and down down towards new south wells that's where the highest population density is. many are going to be incalled for weather going into later on tonight and eventually into tuesday morning, as well. some of these communities just to the north, maybe 3 to 5 meter storm surge. that will be extreme for some of these areas right at sea level. land fall that's coming in around 4 to 6:00 a.m. on tuesday local time, so we know evacuations have been in place about 3,500 people living along the costal community and on hook island, work your way out towards hide away bay and some of the areas that will be susceptible to major costal erosion, a lot of people are being warned to exit this area. notice the rain fall amounts, you don't see that every single day with storm systems, that is a half meter of rain fall, talking well over 25 to 30 inches in a few spots coming down over the next several days. signif