Storm Ciaran kills 2, lashes Europe with strong winds and rain

  02 November 2023    Read: 800
Storm Ciaran kills 2, lashes Europe with strong winds and rain

Storm Ciaran smashed into northwestern Europe on Thursday with strong winds and driving rain, killing one person in France and one in Spain as schools, airports and trains halted service.

A truck driver was killed by a falling tree northeast of Paris and 1.2 million French households were left without electricity. Authorities in Finistere, Brittany, urged people to stay at home and avoid winds which were hitting 207 kph (129 mph), leading to reports of 20-metre (66-foot) waves off the coast.

A woman was killed when a tree fell on her in central Madrid, emergency services said. Three people were injured.

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.

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that in addition to the death of the truck driver, 15 people, including seven firefighters, had been injured. One person was seriously injured in the northern French town of Roubaix, he said.


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