Two storms slam northern Europe, cut power to 150,000 homes

A pair of storms battering northern Europe have killed one man, cut power to more than 150,000 homes, and disrupted flights and phone networks.

More than 82,000 homes in the United Kingdom, nearly 60,000 in France, and at least 10,000 in Germany had no electricity on Sunday after storms Boelo and Austen passed through the region within 24 hours, according to authorities in the countries.

A falling tree killed a man, 60, in southwestern Scotland on Sunday, while another falling tree injured two women in central Scotland, the Press Association reported.

Winds of up to 135 km/h (84 mph) were recorded in the Argyll and Bute regions of western Scotland. Trees and power cables brought down by the storm blocked roads and rail lines across Scotland and northern England.

In Brighton, on England’s southern coast, Austen blew away an unused pier on Friday.

Authorities have warned of flood risk in regions of both Scotland and England.

The Met Office, the UK’s national forecaster, warned that Boelo would bring a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves and said people should stay indoors as much as possible.

Across the English Channel, Europe battled its first big storm of the autumn, with strong winds inflicting widespread power cuts.

French energy company Enedis said that at Austen’s peak on Saturday, some 288,000 homes had no electricity. Some 59,000 remained without power at midday Sunday, mainly in Normandy and Brittany.

A marathon runner in the midst of a race in northern France was lightly injured by a tree knocked over in strong winds.

In Germany, Austen cut power to 10,000 homes in and around the southwestern town of Freiburg-Breisgau on Sunday. The town’s main hospital said it had to limit service to emergency cases because of the blackout, which also cut the mobile phone network.

German police said two people were seriously hurt on Saturday by scaffolding blown away by Austen’s strong winds at a market in the town of Nastatten.

The storms also hit the Netherlands and Belgium, where falling trees injured four people in Brussels on Saturday.

In the Netherlands, north of the island of Schiermonnikoog, three crew members on board a freight ship were injured in the storms, according to the country’s coastguard. Two of them were winched off and taken by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland.

The storms caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled or diverted across northern Europe, including at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of the continent’s busiest hubs.

Experts have warned of more extreme weather events due to climate change.