Hundreds of flights and train services were cancelled across northwest Europe on Monday as Storm Ciara swept in packing powerful winds after lashing Britain and Ireland, where tens of thousands of homes were left without power.
Swathes of northern France were put on orange alert and 130,000 homes had electricity cut off amid fears of coastal storm surges.
Ciara was heading south through France on Monday with the electricity network company Enedis reporting outages from Brittany in the west to the centre and east.
Meteo-France noted wind speeds of 130 kilometres per hour along the coast and predicted highs of 200 kph (120 miles).
Trees and electricity poles were blown over and roofs ripped off homes across 31 departments, fire and rescue services said.
Britain, which bore the brunt of the storm Sunday with widespread flooding across the north, remained on alert with the Meteorological Office warning of strong winds, heavy rain and snow.
“While Storm Ciara is clearing away, that doesn’t mean we’re entering a quieter period of weather,” Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said.
“It’s going to stay very unsettled,” he said, warning “blizzards aren’t out of the question”.
Transport was disrupted across the country with planes, trains and ferries cancelled or delayed after Ciara brought torrential rains and hurricane-force winds.
The highest wind speed recorded was 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph) in the northwest Welsh village of Aberdaron.
At Wet Sleddale Reservoir in northwest England’s Lake District national park, more than 15 centimetres of rain fell in a 24-hour period.
More than 170 flood warnings remained in place early Monday, mostly across northern England and along the southern coast.
The West Yorkshire towns of Hebden Bridge and neighbouring Mytholmroyd were among the worst hit by the storm, with streets inundated and cars submerged in the floodwaters.
As of Sunday evening, 62,000 homes across Britain were still without electricity, the Energy Networks Association said…….read more
Source: AFP
