Five dead, 1.2 million homes without power as Storm Ciaran batters Europe

Five people were killed by falling trees as Storm Ciaran battered Western Europe on Thursday, bringing record winds as high as 200 kilometres per hour, floods, blackouts and major travel disruptions.

Storm Ciaran hits Penmarch, western France, on November 2, 2023. AFP - FRED TANNEAU

Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity overnight as the storm lashed the northwest coast, and most remained without power on Thursday.

Falling trees killed a lorry driver in his vehicle in France's Aisne region, a man in the Dutch town of Venray, a woman in central Madrid, a person in Germany and another person in the Belgian city of Ghent, according to police reports.

Several records were broken in Brittany as the storm went through overnight Wednesday, with wind gusts of up to 193 kilometres per hour in Plougonvelin in the the Finistère department, according to the Meteo-France weather agency.

"The wind gusts are remarkable in Brittany and several absolute records have been broken,” the agency said on X.

All departmental roads in the Finistère have been closed until they can be cleared. A large number of means have been mobilised to clear roads, according to the department’s prefect.

Transport disrupted

Local trains throughout western France will be halted through Friday morning, as will the high-speed TGV lines connecting Paris with Le Mans and Nantes.

The Brest and Quimper airports were closed overnight. Some planes had trouble landing at the Nantes airport overnight, and were rerouted to Toulouse, according to local media reports.

Meteo-France is also monitoring storm surges, with waves of eight to ten metres high expected along the Atlantic coast, which are particularly dangerous for people walking, unawares.

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Departments as far south as Corsica were also on alert for storm surges, wind or flooding.

In southern England, hundreds of schools were closed as large waves powered by winds of 135 km/hour crashed along the coastline.

On the Channel Island of Jersey, residents had to be evacuated to hotels overnight as gusts of up to 164 km/hour damaged homes, according to local media.

The Netherlands urged people to stay home and more than 200 flights were cancelled at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, a major European hub.

(with AFP)