Ciarán: Deadly storm brings gale-force winds to west Europe

Amsterdam/Berlin (dpa) - The powerful storm Ciarán hit the north-west of France and the south-west of England overnight before moving on to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy on Thursday, leaving at least 10 people dead and several injured, authorities said.

Ciarán caused one fatality in the Netherlands when a tree in the south-eastern town of Venray near the German border fell on a person, the police said on Thursday.

Falling trees injured people in several other places, including a woman in The Hague, the police said. Cyclists were also hit by falling branches and trees.

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Cars passing a fallen tree in Dover, as Storm Ciarán brings high winds and heavy rain along the south coast of England. (Source: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa via Reuters Connect)

In France, two people were killed and 15 injured, including seven firefighters, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. A lorry driver died when he crashed into a fallen tree.

In Le Havre, a man was caught in a gust of wind while closing his shutters and fatally injured.

About 1.2 million households were without power and hundreds of thousands were cut off from the mobile phone network.

Winds reached speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour in some regions.

Fallen trees blocked roads and railway lines. There was considerable property damage.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the storm. Trains to and from Paris were also not running and shipping was severely affected.

Powerful winds also blew through the Harz Mountains of central Germany on Thursday and left a woman dead after she was hit by a falling tree, according to the local fire brigade in the city of Goslar.

The 46-year-old woman from Bavaria was hiking with her husband and two small children on the 600-metre Rammelsberg mountain near Goslar when she was struck.

The storm also knocked down power lines and led to the partial closure of two motorways in the Harz Mountains, according to the fire brigade.

In Italy's central region of Tuscany, at least three people died as weather alerts were in place in most of the country's territory.

Italian firefighters work in flooded streets in the Tuscany region, Italy, November 3, 2023. Several people died and went missing in the central region of Tuscany as Storm Ciarán battered western Europe. (Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS)

Tuscany President Eugenio Giani said that two people died in the municipality of Montemurlo, some 25 kilometres north-west of Florence, where a river overflowed. A third person died in Rosignano on the Tuscan coast.

"We have never registered this much rain in so few minutes," Giani said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in the early hours of Friday.

The rain and strong winds were forecast to move towards Italy's southern regions, the country's civil protection agency said.

Foam and spray flow over a street, as storm Ciaran passes over the region. (Source: Fred Tanneau/AFP/dpa via Reuters Connect)

Also on Thursday, Ciarán from the Atlantic hit Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands, with hundreds of flights cancelled and other preparations under way.

Much of the northern German coast was under storm warnings on Thursday ahead of Ciarán's expected arrival, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

Ciarán was moving from the English Channel over England towards the North Sea.

The North Sea coastal region of East Frisia and the North Sea island of Helgoland are particularly threatened by the storm, according to the DWD.

On the Baltic Sea, strong winds are expected to continue for the most part, but stronger gusts are forecast from Flensburg to Fehmarn and the island of Rügen.

The wind is expected to decrease towards the weekend, but stormy and rainy conditions will persist.