Storms “Boelo” and “Austen” struck Europe within 24 hours, causing widespread power outages, flight cancellations and problems on communication networks. A runner in a marathon in northern France was seriously injured when a tree was brought down by strong winds during the race.
More than 82,000 homes in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany lost electricity as the storms passed, according to the relevant authorities. In the Argyll and Bute region of western Scotland, winds of up to 135 kilometres per hour were recorded. Trees and power cables brought down by the storm blocked roads and railway lines across Scotland and northern England. The Energy Networks Association in Britain said more than 400,000 homes had lost power at one point during the storms. Part of the pier in Brighton, on England’s south coast, which had been unused since a fire in 2003, was destroyed by Storm “Austen” on Friday.
Strong winds also hit northern France, as Europe faced the first major autumn storms of the year. Experts have warned of more extreme weather events due to global warming. The injured runner was in the French city of Lille, near the start of the city marathon, which was being held for the first time in 31 years, according to the local newspaper “La Voix du Nord”. Race organisers told AFP that the runner’s life was not in danger.
French energy company Enedis said that at the peak of Storm “Austen” on Saturday, around 288,000 homes were without electricity. Some 59,000 remained without power by midday on Sunday, mainly in Normandy and Brittany. The company said 2,600 Enedis technicians and contractors were working to restore power.
In Germany, Storm “Austen” cut power to 10,000 homes in and around the southwestern city of Freiburg im Breisgau on Sunday. The city’s main hospital was forced to limit services to emergency cases only due to the power outage, which also affected the mobile phone network. Two people were seriously injured on Saturday by scaffolding brought down by the winds of Storm “Austen” during an autumn market in the town of Nastätten, German police said. The German weather service DWD forecast winds of up to 100 km/h on the northern coast on Sunday.
The storms also hit the Netherlands and Belgium, where fallen trees injured four people in Brussels on Saturday. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted due to the storms across northern Europe. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, cancelled dozens of flights on Sunday. AFP counted around 90 cancelled flights on the airport’s website, mainly to European cities such as Paris, Rome and Dublin. Dozens of flights that were scheduled to land at the airport were also cancelled. Flights in northern England and Scotland were also affected by the storms.
Taken from France 24 Live News