Two storms slam northern Europe, cut power to 150,000 homes
Two powerful storms, Boelo and Austen, battered northern Europe over the weekend, leaving one man dead, more than 150,000 homes without electricity, and disrupting flights and phone networks. In the UK, over 82,000 homes were still without power on Sunday, while nearly 60,000 households in France and at least 10,000 in Germany faced blackouts.
Widespread damage and injuries
In southwestern Scotland, a falling tree killed a 60-year-old man on Sunday, according to the Press Association. Two women were injured by another falling tree in central Scotland. Winds reached 135 km/h (84 mph) in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. Trees and power cables were downed, blocking roads and rail lines across Scotland and northern England. On the southern English coast, the storm blew away an unused pier in Brighton on Friday.
Authorities warned of flood risk in parts of Scotland and England. The Met Office cautioned that there was a “danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves” and advised people to stay indoors as much as possible. In France, the first big autumn storm caused widespread power cuts. At the peak of Austen on Saturday, 288,000 homes lost electricity, according to Enedis. By midday Sunday, 59,000 homes remained without power, mainly in Normandy and Brittany. A marathon runner was lightly injured by a fallen tree during a race in northern France.
In Germany, Austen cut power to 10,000 homes in and around Freiburg-Breisgau on Sunday. The main hospital there limited service to emergency cases due to the blackout, and the mobile phone network was disrupted. German police said two people were seriously hurt on Saturday when scaffolding was blown away at a market in Nastatten. In the Netherlands and Belgium, falling trees injured four people in Brussels on Saturday. Off the Dutch coast, three crew members were injured on a freight ship north of Schiermonnikoog; two were winched off and taken by helicopter to a mainland hospital. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted across northern Europe, including at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. Experts warned of more extreme weather events due to climate change.
