Storm Eunice causes at least nine deaths and puts northwestern Europe on red alert


  • Strong gusts of wind make it difficult for aircraft to maneuver at Heathrow airport, which has canceled numerous flights

  • The United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands close schools and suspend rail services due to the storm

The arrival of the eunice storm northwestern europe has put countries like United Kingdom, France, Germany or the Netherlands and its passage has caused at least nine deaths and significant disturbances in transport. The rainfall has been accompanied by strong gusts of wind of up to 195 kilometers per hour, which have put the landing and takeoff maneuvers of planes at heathrow airport and at Gatwick.

This is considered storm as the worst recorded in decades in northwestern Europe and abundant rains and possible flooding due to strong tides are expected for this Saturday.

Three fatalities have been reported in the UK, a man in Liverpool, another in Hampshire and a woman in London. In Ireland, a 60-year-old man has died after being hit by a falling tree, police said. Four people – one of them in a car – were also killed by falling trees in the Netherlands, according to local emergency services that raised their alert level to the maximum. And in Belgium, a 79-year-old man who lived on a boat in the Ypres marina in the west of the country died after falling into the water, according to local media.

In addition, the storm has caused power outages. At United Kingdom more of 140,000 homes have lost power in the South West of England and Wales, and the Government has recommended travel only if essential. In this way, more than 400 flights have been canceled at British airports.

Numerous material damages have also been recorded. A part of the roof of the O2 Arena in London, where concerts and sports competitions are held, has been torn off by the wind. In addition, schools have been closed and suspended rail services.

Red alert in the Netherlands

For its part, in Netherlandsthe authorities have also issued the red alert throughout the west of the region, which applies to Zeeland, North and South Holland, Friesland and Flevoland, as well as the Wadden Sea area. In the rest of the country the orange alert applies, with the exception of the province of Limburg, on the border with Germany and Belgium. This situation has led to cancellation of flights and the paralysis of rail trafficas well as to closure of some schools and vaccination centers in much of the country.

The railway companies have paralyzed all traffic at noon this Friday of national and international trains, although the reduced schedule due to storms has already been applied from the first hour. Most buses will run throughout the day, according to regional carriers, but it will be checked for each route whether it is safe to use the road.

The air traffic has also been affected by the storm and the Dutch airline KLM has suspended more than 200 flights that were supposed to take off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. In addition, all train services have been suspended.

Flooding and train cancellation

Also, the north of France is also on alert for Eunice and on Friday morning the storm was already causing four meter waves in Brittany. Five departments have activated the orange alert for strong winds and floods, as gusts have reached 110 km/h at Cabo Gris-Nez in the northwest and could exceed 140 km/h on the coast. However, the services and lines of the high-speed train to Paris have not been particularly affected at the moment, although in the French capital there is a transport strike that affects millions of people.

On Germanythe national weather service has issued a level four warning -the highest- on some parts of the northwest of the country. Berlin, as well as Hamburg and Hannover, are under the next lower alert. The trains to the northern coastal areas have been canceledwhile the service between Hamburg and Hannover is running one hour late.

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As well Denmark has been affectedwhere the trains have run at a slower pace and the Storebaelt bridge, one of the longest in the world, has had to be closed.

On the other hand, in Belgiumthe authorities have advised citizens to limit your movements as much as possible. In addition, the rail traffic is also interrupted and many schools have shortened the day.



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