Storms batter Europe hitting power supplies, flights and phones

• Storms Boelo and Austen hit northern Europe, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes and causing major travel disruption, AFP said.
• Britain, France and Germany reported the worst outages, with winds up to 135 kmh, fallen trees and damaged roads, rail lines and phone networks.
• The storms caused injuries, including two seriously hurt in Germany and four in Brussels, while experts warned global warming may bring more extreme weather.

LONDON – Storms battered northern Europe on Oct 25, cutting power to more than 150,000 homes, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and silencing phone networks.

A runner in a marathon in northern France was seriously injured runner when a tree was felled 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 had power cuts inflicted by the passage of storms Boelo and Austen within 24 hours of each other, authorities in the countries said.

In the Argyll and Bute region of western Scotland, winds of up to 135 kmh were recorded. Trees and power cables brought down by the storm blocked roads and rail lines across Scotland and northern England.

Britain’s Energy Networks Association indicated that more than 400,000 homes had lost power at some stage during the storms.

Part of the pier at Brighton the southern England coast, unused since a fire in 2003, blew away in Storm Austen on Oct 23.

The powerful winds also battered northern France across the Channel as Europe battled its first big autumn storms of the year. Experts have warned of more extreme weather events because of global warming.

A runner was injured in the northern French city of Lille near the start of the city’s marathon, which was being staged for the first time in 31 years.

According to local newspaper La Voix du Nord, the victim was a 25-year-old man. Race organisers told AFP the runner’s life was not in danger.

Widespread power cuts

French energy company Enedis said that at the peak of storm Austen on Oct 24, some 288,000 homes had no electricity.

Some 59,000 remained without power at midday Oct 25, mainly in Normandy and Brittany. It said 2,600 Enedis technicians and contractors were working to re-establish power.

In Germany, Austen cut power to 10,000 homes in and around the south-western town of Friburg-Brisgau on Oct 25. The town’s main hospital said it had to limit service to emergency cases because of the blackout that also cut the mobile phone network.

Two people were seriously hurt on Oct 24 by scaffolding blown away by storm Austen’s winds during an autumn market at the town of Nastatten, German police said.

Germany’s DWD weather agency predicted more powerful winds of up to 100 kmh on the northern coast on Oct 25.

The storms also hit the Netherlands and Belgium, where falling trees injured four people in Brussels on Oct 24.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted because of the storms across northern Europe.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, cancelled dozens of flights on Oct 25.

AFP counted some 90 flights cancelled on the airport website, mainly to European cities including Paris, Rome and Dublin. Dozens of flights due to land at the airport were also cancelled.

Flights in northern England and Scotland were also hit by the storms. AFP