Hundreds of flights, trains and ferries were canceled in northwestern Europe due to winds caused by Hurricane Eunice, which hit Europe less than 48 hours after Storm Dudley killed at least five people.
Police say a 60-year-old man died after a tree fell in south-eastern Ireland on Friday.
On Friday, two people also died as a result of falling trees, according to the Dutch emergency service.
On the Isle of Wight, winds reached 196 kilometers per hour, an unprecedented occurrence in Britain, while winds of more than 110 kilometers per hour hit London’s Heathrow Airport.
The British Weather Service has urged millions of Britons to stay home after it issued a red alert (the highest) in south-west England and south Wales, as well as in the south-east, including London.
On the streets of the capital, which have been put on alert for the first time since the system was introduced in 2011, it is unusually quiet, and part of the canvas covering the area where concerts and sporting competitions are held has vomited on strong winds. .
More than 70,000 homes were left without electricity in south-west England at noon, according to the network operator. Many schools remained closed and a ministerial meeting was scheduled for the afternoon.
flood risk
Cirium, a specialist company, said ferry service across the canal had been suspended and more than 400 flights had been canceled at UK airports.
A plane flying from Bordeaux to London was forced to return after two attempts to land at Gatwick, and the Qatar Airways A-380 landed at Heathrow Airport on its third attempt in front of 230,000 internet users via Big Jet TV live “The YouTube ”.
“There is a risk of death during a severe weather event,” Secretary of State for Security Damian Hinds warned Sky News, stressing that the army is ready to turn around to deal with this storm, which could one of the most dangerous. importance over the past three decades.
Strong winds and continued rising water are raising fears of flooding, especially with the expected heavy rain on Saturday.
Europe on alert
More than 80,000 homes in Ireland were left without electricity at noon, according to the local ESB network.
After the UK, the storm is headed to Denmark, where trains will be slow and the Storebaelt Bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world, will almost certainly have to close almost overnight, its operator warned.
In France, this storm on Friday morning caused waves to rise up to four meters in Brittany, according to France’s meteorological service, which declared five regions in orange.
Wind speeds reach 110 kilometers per hour in Cap-Guer-Nech in the northwest, and daytime on the coast in those areas can exceed 140 kilometers per hour.
French railway company SNCF has announced delays in the operation of its regional lines. Rail traffic has also experienced disruptions in Belgium, where many schools are closing early in northern Germany and the Netherlands.
Hurricane Eunice hit northern Europe after storms on the continent in recent days. Storm Dudley killed five people in Poland and Germany on Thursday.
Although climate change often increases and intensifies with extreme climate events, it is not seen in winds and storms (except hurricanes), which vary greatly in number each year.
The latest UN climate report released in August estimated with very low confidence that the number of hurricanes in the northern hemisphere could increase since the 1980s.
