A powerful autumnal storm named Dawn bludgeoned western Europe on Thursday, depriving some 250,000 French people of electricity and causing property damage in at least four countries.
Rail service was disrupted by fallen trees on the tracks in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Roofs were torn off in several places, including part of the roof of the camp used by the professional football club of the city of Antwerp.
A tornado caused damage early Thursday in the German city of Schwentinental. A fire official told German news agency dpa that the tornado destroyed greenhouses and uprooted trees, which fell on cars. No injuries are reported, but houses have been damaged.
Local press reports four injured in the Dutch town of Barendrecht, near Rotterdam, when gusts ripped roof tiles and uprooted trees in a residential area early Thursday morning.
The storm also generated heavy rains and high winds across the southern UK.
Dawn had first swept the Atlantic coast of Brittany, France, Wednesday afternoon, before sliding west overnight, uprooting trees and tearing roofs off in its path, can be seen in footage uploaded.
The French national meteorological service issued storm warnings Thursday for the northeast corner of the country, bordering Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Gusts of 175 kilometers per hour were measured in the Norman town of Fecamp, according to meteorologists.
Uprooted trees fell on power lines. Some 250,000 French households were deprived of electricity Thursday morning.
Rail service was disrupted in the Normandy and Champagne-Ardenne regions, as were some Parisian commuter trains, SNCF said.
Fallen trees on the rails were also interfering with rail travel in the Netherlands on Thursday morning. Germany’s national rail carrier Deutsche Bahn has suspended all long-distance trains in North Rhine-Westphalia – the country’s most populous state, bordering the Netherlands and Belgium. Deutsche Bahn reports cancellations and delays elsewhere in the country.
Firefighters in the Belgian town of Westerhoek, near the Dutch border, said on Twitter that they had been called dozens of times overnight due to damage from the storm.
The storm pounded northern Belgium in the Antwerp region, smashing trees, spreading scaffolding in the streets and blowing trucks off the roads. She also tore off part of the roof of the stadium of club Antwerp FC.
Germany’s national meteorological service warned of gusts of more than 100 km / hour in the north and northeast of the country on Thursday, and 120 km / hour in mountainous regions. Significant damage is not reported immediately.
In Delmenhorst, in northwestern Germany, a man was slightly injured by a falling branch on Wednesday evening. A freight train also struck a branch overnight in the suburbs of Bonn.
Berlin’s two zoos closed their doors as a precaution on Thursday, due to the strong winds that were expected. The animals were sheltered inside. A decision was also taken to close the cemeteries in the town of Erford, in central Germany.