Back-to-Back Storms Cut Power Across Northern Europe
Storms Austen and Boelo, arriving within 24 hours of each other, cut power to more than 150,000 homes in Britain, France and Germany, canceled hundreds of flights and killed a man in Scotland.
Two storms passing within 24 hours of each other left more than 82,000 homes in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany without power, according to authorities in those countries as reported by AFP. A man died when a tree fell on him in southwestern Scotland, AFP reported. Winds of up to 135 kilometers an hour were recorded in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland, and fallen trees and power lines blocked roads and rail lines.
Storm Austen hit southern England on Friday before moving across the continent, and Storm Boelo followed, striking Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England on Sunday. Hundreds of flights were canceled or diverted across northern Europe. Britain's Energy Networks Association said more than 400,000 homes had lost power at some point during the storms. In Scotland, the network operator SSEN said it expected most of the roughly 38,000 homes in its area still without power on Sunday evening to be reconnected on Monday, and everyone affected by Boelo by Tuesday.
London — Northern Europe spent the weekend clearing up after two storms in quick succession, with crews working to reconnect tens of thousands of homes.
Britain
Britain's Energy Networks Association said more than 400,000 homes had lost power at some point during the storms, AFP reported. The network operator SSEN, responding to Boelo in Scotland, said that as of 7 p.m. local time on Sunday it had restored power to more than 54,000 customers and that about 38,000 homes remained without it. SSEN said it expected most of them to be reconnected on Monday but that it would be Tuesday before everyone affected by Boelo had power back, and that it was preparing for a third storm forecast to reach the north of Scotland on Tuesday. National Grid said its engineers had restored power to 171,129 properties since the storms began. The Met Office, Britain's national forecaster, warned that Boelo brought a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves. Part of the disused pier at Brighton, on the south coast, blew away during Austen on Friday.
France and Germany
The French grid operator Enedis said about 288,000 homes lost power at the height of Austen on Saturday and that about 59,000, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, were still without it at midday on Sunday, with 2,600 technicians and contractors working on repairs, according to AFP. In Germany, Austen cut power to about 10,000 homes in and around Freiburg im Breisgau on Sunday, and the city's main hospital limited service to emergencies because the blackout also took down the mobile network. Police said two people were seriously hurt on Saturday when scaffolding blew away at an autumn market in Nastätten.
Travel
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest, canceled dozens of flights on Sunday; AFP counted about 90 departures canceled on the airport's website. Falling trees injured four people in Brussels on Saturday. Some ferries in Scandinavia were canceled, some Swedish train services were suspended as a precaution, and some trailers were barred from Denmark's Great Belt Bridge, Euronews reported.