A street in Penmarc'h, western France, on 2 November 2023, as Storm Ciaran hits the region. Photo: AFP
Storm Ciaran smashed into western Europe, killing six people and forcing schools, airports and train services to shut down.
A truck driver was killed when a tree fell on him in France while a second death was reported in Le Havre, according to authorities.
Falling trees also caused the death of a woman in the Spanish capital Madrid and another in the south of the Netherlands, local emergency services and police said.
Two people died in the Belgian town of Ghent - a five year old and a 64-year-old German woman visiting the country - the prosecutor's office said. Both deaths were caused by falling branches.
In France, 1.2 million households were left without electricity.
Authorities in Finistere, Brittany, urged people to stay at home and avoid winds which were hitting 207km/h, leading to reports of 20-metre waves off the coast.
Storm Ciaran, which follows on the heels of Storm Babet two weeks ago, was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have already caused heavy flooding in Northern Ireland and parts of Britain.
People walk past a destroyed warehouse in Porspoder, western France, on 2 November, 2023, as Storm Ciaran hit the region. Photo: AFP
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that in addition to the death of truck driver, 15 people, including seven firefighters, had been injured. One person was seriously injured in the northern French town of Roubaix, he said.
About 1300 people had to be relocated to camp sites or shelters, and several houses were evacuated in the Finistere city of Brest after a crane fell, Darmanin said earlier on social media.
Still, the storm in France showed some signs of abating with the Meteo France weather service reducing its alert for strong winds in Mache, Finistere and Cotes d'Armor from red to orange.
In Britain, the Channel Islands were among the worst hit areas, with the BBC reporting that windows had been blown in and one roof ripped off a house on Jersey, forcing families to move into nearby hotels.
Dutch Airline KLM scrapped hundreds of flights to and from Amsterdam, while international trains from the Dutch capital to Paris were also cancelled, and shipping lanes in the southwest of the country were closed. Airport operator AENA said 42 flights in Spain were cancelled.
Spain's state-run weather agency AEMET also issued red warnings on Thursday for the northern regions of Galicia and Cantabria, where waves of as high as 9 metres were expected.
La Pinilla, a ski resort north of Madrid, and Estaca de Bares in Galicia registered wind velocities of more than 150 kph, AEMET said.
Damage in UK
There was widespread flooding and damage around the UK, with thousands of homes left without power, hundreds of schools closed and major travel disruption, the BBC reported.
Southern England, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands have been worst-hit by Ciaran, with more than 80 flood warnings still in place across the UK.
No UK deaths have so far been linked to the rain and 161km/h gusts.
But countless homes around the country have been severely damaged - with some residents even believing they have been hit by tornadoes - and many still assessing the full scale of the destruction. It follows a series of other flooding incidents in recent weeks.
Waves crash over Newhaven Lighthouse and the harbour wall in Newhaven, southern England, on 2 November 2023 as strong winds and heavy rain from Storm Ciaran hit Britain. Photo: AFP
One yellow weather warning for rain remains in place until Friday evening in eastern Scotland, with the rest of the country no longer covered by any other weather warnings.
More than 200 flood alerts have been issued for England, alongside the 86 flood warnings where flooding is expected, but there are currently no severe flood warnings - the highest category - in place.
Dozens of people in Jersey were evacuated to hotels overnight on Wednesday after gusts of up to 164km/h were recorded. Locals were also hit by huge hailstones "bigger than golf balls".
Elsewhere across the British Isles, roofs have been blown off, some train lines have completely ground to a halt and there were long queues around the Port of Dover, which shut earlier amid rough seas.
Some train companies had asked commuters to work from home ahead of major disruption to lines in southern England and Scotland.
South Western Railway was among the rail providers impacted and said services across the whole network may be cancelled, delayed or revised - with disruptions expected until the end of Thursday.
The storm caused chaos for drivers too, and the AA, which had a large number of callouts in southern England, said it had rescued 84 customers stuck in floods so far on Thursday. One driver caught in flood water was being treated for hypothermia, it added.
There was also significant disruption at airports, with all flights from Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney cancelled on Thursday.
- Reuters / BBC
