Ferocious storm winds kill seven as Europe struck by travel chaos
Flights halted at main Dutch airport Gusts up to 87mph recorded
powerful storm lashed Europe with high winds and snow yesterday, killing at least seven people in three countries and grounding flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Falling trees killed two 62-year-old men in the Netherlands, a woman south of the Belgian capital of Brussels, a 59-year-old man camping in the German town of Emmerich and a firefighter in the German town of Bad Salzungen.
In Lippstadt, in western Germany, a driver died when he lost control of his van in strong winds and drove into oncoming traffic.
Police said a gust of wind in Germany’s eastern state of Brandenburg flipped a truck over a highway, killing the driver.
Police spokeswoman Jose Albers said authorities were also investigating whether the powerful gusts were to blame for the death of a 66-year-old man who fell through a plexiglass roof in the central town of Vuren.
Trains were halted and trucks blown over in several countries in the fierce weather.
Passengers were briefly stranded as Schiphol halted flights shortly after 10am GMT.
Flag Dutch carrier KLM had already scrapped more than 200 flights before the storm.
Traffic on Dutch roads was plunged into chaos, with the wind blowing over tractor trailers and toppling trees, hampering efforts to clean up the mess.
In Amsterdam, authorities halted all trams and closed the city’s zoo.
The national weather service recorded wind gusts of up to 87mph in the southern port of Hook of Holland as the storm passed over.
Water authorities in the lowlying Netherlands also closed a storm barrier 47 miles east of Amsterdam because of higha water levels. Before halting all trains, the Dutch rail service reported numerous incidents, including a collision between a train and a trampoline.
A man had a narrow escape in Amsterdam when a tree was blown over onto his scooter. He escaped unhurt.
Neighbouring Belgium was also hit by the storm.
The port of Ghent closed because of the high winds and tram traffic halted in parts of the capital Brussels.
German Railways cancelled all train services for the counthe try’s most populous state of North Rhine-westphalia due to the high winds. The square in front of Cologne’s famous Cathedral was also partially cordoned off yesterday as a precaution amid fears masonry could be blown loose.
Schools were closed in many parts of Germany. Air traffic was suspended at the Colognebonn airport.
Up to 100,000 people were left without electricity in western Germany and train services were cancelled in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony.
storm led to 18 flight cancellations at Dusseldorf Airport. Two people were injured when gusty winds toppled over their truck on Highway 555 near Bonn and at least four people were injured by falling trees in Dortmund, Ratingen and Heinsdorf.
Another truck was almost blown off a highway bridge near Duisburg. Firefighters were busy removing trees from roads across the region.
In Britain, power was knocked out to thousands of homes.
Gale-force winds damaged overhead power lines that supply trains and brought trees crashing onto the tracks, causing severe delays for thousands of commuters.
In Romania, snowstorms and high winds forced the closure of dozens of schools, several main roads and ports.
Thousands of people were left without electricity.
Interior Minister Carmen Dan said about 32,000 people had no power. Authorities freed a bus carrying 22 people that was stranded in snowdrifts in Romania’s eastern Galati region.