Boelo and Austen Cut Power

Northern Europe faced a double blow of severe weather this weekend. Storms Boelo and Austen struck the region within 24 hours of each other, causing widespread damage and disruption.

Officials in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany reported that more than 150,000 homes lost electricity on Sunday. The United Kingdom accounted for more than 82,000 of these outages. France reported nearly 60,000 homes without power, while Germany logged at least 10,000. Authorities in all three nations confirmed these figures as the storms passed through.

The storms killed one man in southwestern Scotland. The 60 year old was struck by a falling tree. In central Scotland, two women were injured by another downed tree. Winds reached 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute. Falling trees and severed power lines blocked roads and rail lines across Scotland and northern England. In Brighton, England, the wind blew away an unused pier.

In France, the energy company Enedis stated that 288,000 homes lost power at the peak of Storm Austen on Saturday. By midday on Sunday, that number had dropped to 59,000. These outages were concentrated in Normandy and Brittany. A marathon runner in northern France was lightly injured when a tree fell on him during a race.

In Germany, the blackout hit the southwestern town of Freiburg-Breisgau. The local main hospital limited its services to emergency cases because the power loss also cut the mobile phone network. In the town of Nastatten, scaffolding blew away in strong winds at a market on Saturday. German police said two people were seriously injured in the incident.

The storms also affected the Netherlands and Belgium. In Brussels, four people were injured by falling trees on Saturday. In the Netherlands, three crew members on a freight ship north of Schiermonnikoog were injured. The coastguard reported that two of them were rescued by helicopter and taken to a hospital on the mainland.

Air travel suffered across the region. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted. Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of the busiest in Europe, was among the hubs affected. The UK Met Office warned that Storm Boelo posed a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves. They advised people to stay indoors as much as possible.