Twin storms disrupt power and travel across northern Europe
One man died and over 150,000 homes lost electricity as Boelo and Austen moved through the region within 24 hours.
By Michael Thompson ·
Storms Boelo and Austen passed through northern Europe within a 24-hour window, killing one person and cutting electricity to more than 150,000 homes. The weather systems also forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted phone networks in the affected countries.
In the United Kingdom, more than 82,000 homes were without power on Sunday. A 60-year-old man in southwestern Scotland died after a tree fell on him, while two women in central Scotland were injured by another falling tree. Wind speeds reached 135 km/h in the Argyll and Bute regions of western Scotland. The debris blocked roads and rail lines in Scotland and northern England, and the storm blew away an unused pier in Brighton on Friday.
The Met Office issued a warning that Boelo posed a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves. Authorities advised the public to stay indoors. Flood risks were cited for regions in both Scotland and England.
France experienced its first major autumn storm, with the energy company Enedis reporting that 288,000 homes lost electricity at Austen’s peak on Saturday. By midday on Sunday, 59,000 homes, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, remained dark. A marathon runner in northern France was lightly injured when a tree fell in the strong winds.
In Germany, Austen left 10,000 homes in and around Freiburg-Breisgau without power on Sunday. The main hospital in the town limited service to emergency cases, and the mobile phone network was also cut. German police reported that two people were seriously hurt on Saturday when scaffolding blew away at a market in Nastatten.
The storms also affected the Netherlands and Belgium. Four people were injured by falling trees in Brussels on Saturday. In the Netherlands, three crew members on a freight ship north of Schiermonnikoog were injured. Two of them were winched off the vessel and taken by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport handled many of the cancelled or diverted flights.
Experts have warned that climate change is contributing to more extreme weather events in the region.
Source: Al Jazeera
