Storm Eunice continues to sweep northwestern Europe on Saturday morning with strong gusts still expected on German coasts. It leaves in its wake significant material damage and at least nine dead.
Formed in Ireland, the storm passed Friday over part of the United Kingdom then northern France, Benelux before continuing its route towards Denmark and Germany, of which a large northern third was placed on red alert until Saturday morning.
Because this storm left a spectacle of desolation in its path and caused significant disruption. Hundreds of flights, trains and ferries were canceled across northwestern Europe as extreme winds from Eunice swept through less than 48 hours following Storm Dudley (at least six dead in Poland and Germany).
Nine dead
At this stage, nine deaths have been recorded because of Eunice. Last death reported in the early morning by the police in Germany: a driver was killed by the fall of a tree on his vehicle in Altenberge, in North Rhine-Westphalia, not far from the city of Munster.
In the Netherlands, four people were killed, according to the Dutch emergency services, by falling trees or in accidents. In The Hague, dozens of houses were evacuated for fear of the collapse of the bell tower of a church.
A 60-year-old man has died in south-east Ireland, police say. In London, a woman in her thirties was killed in the followingnoon when a tree fell on the car in which she was a passenger, and a man in his fifties was killed near Liverpool (north-west of England) when debris hit the windscreen of the vehicle he was traveling in.
In Belgium, a 79-year-old Canadian who lived on a boat in the marina of Ypres (west) died following falling into the water while trying to recover objects that had flown away.
Almost 200 km/h
In England, a gust of 196 km / h was recorded on the Isle of Wight, unheard of, while others were measured at more than 110 km / h inland, including at London airport Heathrow.
The British Meteorological Service had issued a red alert level – the highest – over South Wales and southern England, including London. This is the first time that the British capital has reached this level of alert since the implementation of this system in 2011.
In the North of France, six people were seriously injured, and 17 more lightly, in road accidents related to wind, falls or due to falling materials.
9 meter waves in Brittany
Strong gusts of wind coupled with ongoing high tides raise fears of flooding, especially as heavy rains are expected for Saturday.
Cross-Channel ferry traffic was interrupted, hundreds of flights were canceled on Friday – more than 400 at British airports, according to the specialist company Cirium, and the company KLM canceled more than 200 from Schiphol airport in ‘Amsterdam – road and rail transport were also affected in several countries.
Not to mention the power cuts as in Ireland, where more than 80,000 homes were without it at midday, according to the local network ESB
In France, waves sometimes exceeding nine meters have been recorded in Brittany, according to Météo France, as well as gusts of wind locally reaching 176 km / hours at Cap Gris-Nez, according to the private tornado observatory Keraunos.
The French railway company SNCF has announced disruptions on its regional lines. Rail traffic was also very disrupted in Belgium, where many schools shortened the day, in northern Germany and in the Netherlands.
