Russian bomber planes capable of carrying nuclear weapons flew past the west coast of Ireland on Wednesday.

The Irish Department of Defence say the jets came close to but did not enter Irish airspace.

Britain scrambled the Russian jets in response - as Ireland is considered to be within its 'area of interest' for defence. The jets never entered UK airspace.

RAF jets then escorted the Russian planes from a distance for around half an hour, until they were a safe distance away.

Robert Fox, the Defence Editor for the London Evening Standard, said they still could have posed a risk.

He stated that the authority should have known about it here: "I can't believe the civil aviation authority of Ireland were completely blind on this. They must have found out and if they didn't find out, they should have done."

He continued by saying that this was the case of Russia flexing its muscles.

You can listen to his interview here:

Britain has summoned Russia's ambassador to explain why the two Russian bombers flew over the English Channel.

A British Foreign Office spokesperson said while the planes stopped short of entering British airspace, the incident was part of an "increasing pattern of out of area operations by Russian aircraft".