Storms in Northern Europe leave more than 150,000 homes without electricity
Two storms that swept through Northern Europe over the past 24 hours have left one person dead, caused power outages, and disrupted transportation.
More than 150,000 households in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany were left without electricity.
According to authorities, by Sunday, following the passage of storms Boelo and Austen, electricity was out in more than 82,000 homes in the United Kingdom, nearly 60,000 in France, and at least 10,000 in Germany.
The United Kingdom's meteorological service warned of the danger of storm Boelo, pointing to the risk of injuries from flying debris and high waves. Residents were advised to stay home if possible.
In France, the energy company Enedis reported that on Saturday, at the height of storm Austen, about 288,000 homes were without electricity. By midday Sunday, the number of disconnected households had fallen to approximately 59,000. The most serious outages persisted in Normandy and Brittany.
In Germany, the storm caused power outages in 10,000 homes in Freiburg im Breisgau and nearby areas in the southwest of the country. Because of the disruptions to electricity and mobile communications, the city's main hospital was forced to temporarily limit admissions to emergency cases.
The effects of the bad weather were also recorded in the Netherlands and Belgium. In Brussels, falling trees injured four people on Saturday.
In the Netherlands, three crew members of a cargo ship were injured because of the storm north of the island of Schiermonnikoog. According to the local coast guard, two of the sailors were evacuated by winch and taken by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland.
The adverse weather conditions led to the cancellation and delay of hundreds of flights across Northern Europe. The disruptions affected, among others, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, one of the largest aviation hubs in Europe.
Experts warn that amid climate change, extreme weather events may occur more frequently.
