Storms Boelo and Austen: 150,000 homes lose power in Europe
A 60-year-old man died in Scotland while storms disrupted flights and phone networks across the UK, France, and Germany.
By Charlotte Evans ·
Storms Boelo and Austen struck northern Europe within 24 hours, killing one man and leaving more than 150,000 homes without electricity. The weather systems caused widespread disruption to flights and phone networks across the region.
Authorities reported that over 82,000 households in the United Kingdom lost power on Sunday. France experienced outages affecting nearly 60,000 homes, while Germany saw at least 10,000 homes without electricity. The storms hit the area sequentially, with Austen passing through first and Boelo following shortly after.
In southwestern Scotland, a falling tree killed a 60-year-old man on Sunday. Two women in central Scotland were injured by another fallen tree, according to the Press Association. Winds reached 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute. Debris from trees and power cables blocked roads and rail lines in Scotland and northern England.
The UK Met Office warned that Boelo posed a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves. The agency advised the public to stay indoors. In Brighton, Austen blew away an unused pier on Friday. Flood risks were flagged for parts of Scotland and England.
In France, energy company Enedis stated that 288,000 homes lost power at Austen's peak on Saturday. By midday Sunday, 59,000 homes remained without electricity, primarily in Normandy and Brittany. A marathon runner in northern France was lightly injured by a tree. In Germany, the blackout in Freiburg-Breisgau forced the local hospital to limit services to emergency cases. The outage also cut mobile phone service.
German police reported that scaffolding blown by Austen's winds seriously injured two people at a market in Nastatten on Saturday. In Brussels, falling trees injured four people. The Netherlands coastguard reported that three crew members on a freight ship north of Schiermonnikoog were injured. Two were winched off and taken by helicopter to a mainland hospital.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted across northern Europe. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, a major hub, was among the affected sites. Experts have linked the frequency of such extreme weather events to climate change.
Source: Al Jazeera
