LONDON/PARIS: On Thursday, powerful winds and driving rain brought by Storm Ciaran slammed into northwestern Europe, killing one person in France and closing schools, airports, and rail and ferry services.
A truck driver was killed by a falling tree northeast of Paris and 1.2 million French households were left without energy. There were reports of 20-meter waves off the coast of Finistere, Brittany, and authorities there warned residents to stay indoors and out of the elements.
Flooding has already occurred in Northern Ireland and other parts of Britain as a result of Storm Ciaran, which followed on the heals of Storm Babet two weeks ago and was also propelled by a vigorous jet stream that came in from the Atlantic.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported on social media platform X that 1,315 people in the city of Brest, Finistere, had to be moved to camp sites or shelters, and that many residences had to be evacuated after a crane collapsed.
Local prefect Alain Espinasse said on RTL radio, “I repeat: stay at home.”
The Meteo France meteorological service downgraded its notice for severe winds in Mache, Finistere, and Cotes d’Armor from red to orange after the storm in France showed indications of abating.
In Britain, the Channel Islands were among the worst impacted places, with the BBC reporting that windows had been blown in and one roof ripped off a house on Jersey, forcing family to move into neighboring hotels.
Many schools in southern England were closed, and the rescue agency that helps save lives at sea urged people to stay away from the coast.
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A yellow warning has been issued by the British Met Office for London and the southeast of the country.
“This rough weather could make visiting our coasts around southern England and Wales treacherous and bring very dangerous sea conditions,” the RNLI warned Ross Macleod.
The British Met Office described Storm Ciaran as a “fairly normal” autumn storm, but warned that, depending on climate forecasts, such storms might become slightly more often and intense throughout the British winter.
Hundreds of flights on the Dutch airline KLM were canceled to and from Amsterdam, international trains between Amsterdam and Paris were canceled, and shipping lanes in the southwest of the country were shut down.
Galicia and Cantabria in northern Spain received red alerts from Spain’s national weather service AEMET on Thursday as well, since nine-meter waves were predicted.
AEMET reported that wind speeds of above 150 kilometers per hour were recorded in the ski resort of La Pinilla, north of Madrid, and in the town of Estaca de Bares, Galicia.
On Thursday, AENA, which operates airports in Madrid, Bilbao, Asturias, Vigo, La Coruna, and Santander, announced the cancelation of 18 flights. On Wednesday, 21 flights were canceled.
