EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you kick off your day.

1. #BRUTAL:  The weather outside is frightful (seriously). ‘Storm Rachel’ is battering the country — with the west and north west bearing the brunt of it. Stay with us for all your travel latest.

2. #OFFLINE: Some 15,000 customers were left without power this morning as a result of the storm. The homes affected were in Donegal, Cork, Killarney, Galway, Athlone, Tullow and Wexford.

3. #UP IN SMOKE: One in ten Irish women smoked through their pregnancy, according to findings of the Growing Up In Ireland study.

4. #NO PULSE: The head of the Garda Inspectorate believes the Pulse system should be scrapped. It’s “not fit for purpose for criminal investigation” he said.

5. #TERROR: An Ohio man has been arrested for allegedly planning to bomb the US Capitol in an ISIS-inspired attack, according to CNN.

6. #EBOLA: A woman suspected of having Ebola is being treated at a hospital in Northampton, the BBC reports.

7. #KILLING: Four people are due in court today in connection with the murder of Nelson Cheung in Antrim last week. The 65-year-old restaurant owner was stabbed to death.

8. #MING: Will Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan be part of the new ‘alliance of independents’? His successor in the Dáil, Michael Fitzmaurice, dropped by our newsroom.

9. #FROSTBIT GUY: The unwitting viral star was on TV last night talking about THAT video. He thinks it’s “mad craic altogether”.