IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES. Storm Eunice sweeps across northern Europe

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Uprooted trees, soaring roofs, cut power lines… Storm Eunice, which is sweeping northwestern Europe, has already killed at least 16 people and left significant material damage in its wake. Part of Ireland, where it formed, Eunice passed over part of the United Kingdom on Friday, then converged on northern France and Benelux, before continuing on to Denmark and Germany, Saturday February 19. Franceinfo makes a tour of Europe of the devastation caused by this violent gale, which broke less than 48 hours after the storm Dudley.

In the United Kingdom, gusts at nearly 200 km / h

Storm Eunice hit the British Isles first. In the UK, three people have died. In London, a woman in her thirties was killed on Friday afternoon when a tree fell on the car in which she was a passenger. Near Liverpool, in the northwest of England, a 50-year-old died when debris hit the windscreen of the vehicle in which he was traveling.

The highest red alert level has been issued over South Wales and southern England, including London, by the UK Met Service, une first since the establishment of this weather warning system in 2011. Heavy gusts blew on the British capital.

Part of the roof of the O2 Arena, the famous London performance hall, flew away under the power of the wind.

A gust of 196 km / h was recorded on the Isle of Wight, unheard of, while others were measured at more than 110 km / h inland, including at London Heathrow airport, where the pilots had difficulty landing. More than 400 flights have been canceled at UK airports, according to specialist company Cirium. Cross-Channel ferry traffic has also ceased.

In the south-west of England, in Somerset, the spire of the church of Saint Thomas in Wells, blown by the wind, crashed on the ground, without causing any casualties. At least 400,000 homes also remained without electricity Saturday morning in the country. Insurers estimate the amount of damage at more than 300 million pounds sterling (360 million euros).

In France, up to 160,000 homes without electricity

In the north of France, at least eight people were seriously injured, and around twenty more lightly, in road accidents linked to the wind which blew at nearly 140 km / h in Calais and at nearly 130 km / h in Lille.

On the west coast, in Brittany, waves sometimes exceeding nine meters were observed, according to Météo France, and gusts reached 176 km / h at Cape Gris-Nez, in Pas-de-Calais, according to the private observatory. Keraunos tornadoes.

At the height of the windy episode, until 160,000 homes, located largely in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, were deprived of power, network manager Enedis reported on Friday. After the passage of storm Eunice, around 37,000 homes were still without electricity on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, according to Enedis.

In the Lille region, firefighters received more than 5,000 calls during the day. They intervened around 1,600 times, mainly for falling materials. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter on Friday that “The State will declare a state of natural disaster as soon as possible wherever necessary”.

All buses and metros in the metropolis of Lille have been interrupted “due to many objects on the road”, reports France Bleu Nord. In total, 481 construction sites and 68 interventions have so far been recorded by the firefighters of the North.

In the Netherlands, four people killed

It was in the Netherlands that the passage of storm Eunice was the deadliest, especially in the Amsterdam region. Four people were killed by falling trees or in accidents, according to the Dutch emergency services. Another man was violently hit by a solar panel.

The entire Dutch rail network was affected and only the Paris-Brussels Thalys were operating on Saturday morning.

In The Hague, dozens of houses were evacuated for fear of the collapse of the bell tower of a church. The red code was triggered and rail traffic was disrupted or even suspended between Amsterdam and Brussels. A recovery is expected on Saturday afternoon. Many trees were uprooted by the wind.

In Ireland, more than 80,000 homes without electricity

It was in the middle of the night from Thursday to Friday that the storm hit the Irish coast. A 60-year-old man has died in south-east Ireland, police say. More 80,000 homes were without power by midday Friday, according to local network ESB.

Storm Eunice also brought snowfall to the north of the country, causing traffic jams and accidents.

In Belgium, a crane collapsed on a hospital

In Belgium, a 79-year-old man who lived on a boat in the marina of Ypres, in the west of the country, died after falling into the water while trying to recover objects that had flown away. In addition, a 37-year-old man hit in the head on Friday by a solar panel that had flown away succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, according to the Ghent police.

In Tournai, located near the French border, a crane, destabilized by the wind, fell on the upper floors of a building housing a hospital geriatrics department. Staff and patients, all unharmed, were evacuated. Only the crane driver was injured and had to be extricated by the emergency services, reports RTBF.

In Germany, a third of the country on red alert

Storm Eunice continued on its way to Germany.“There is a risk of gusts of severe storm force (level 3 of 4). Maximum gust: 100-115 km/h“, warned the German meteorological services. A large third of the north of the country had been placed on red alert until Saturday morning.

Two people died, according to the German police, including a driver killed by the fall of a tree on his vehicle in Altenberge, in North Rhine-Westphalia, not far from the city of Munster.

Winds of over 140 km/h hit Büsum on the North Sea coast. Long-distance and regional rail traffic was interrupted on Friday, says Deutsche Welle (in German). Firefighters had to rescue rescuers at sea on the island of Heligoland.

Four people also died in Poland, where 194,000 homes have been without power, according to local authorities, and where several rail links are suspended.


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