FLOODING, WINDS HIT NORTHERN EUROPE
Gale-force winds and floods struck several countries in northern Europe as the region endured more heavy rain on Friday that forecasters say will continue into the weekend. Three deaths in the U.K. were blamed on the bad weather.
The winds are expected to hit hardest in the eastern part of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula and the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea. But the northern part of the British Isles, southern Sweden and Norway, and northern Germany are also in the path of the storm, named Babet by the U.K.’s weather forecaster, the Met Office.
Eastern Scotland continued to bear the brunt of the stormy weather. On Friday, the Met Office issued a new “red” warning, its highest, for parts of the region through today.
“This is not usual autumn
weather,” said Andy Page, the Met’s chief meteorologist. “This is an exceptional event, and we are likely to continue to see significant impacts with the potential for further flooding and damage to properties.”
On Friday, police reported that a man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing floodwaters in the central England county of Shropshire.
In Scotland, a 57-year-old woman died Thursday after being swept into a river in the region of Angus, where hundreds of homes were
also evacuated. Also on Thursday, a 56-year-old man died after his van hit a falling tree in the same area.
Though forecasters said the worst of the heavy rain in Scotland had passed, they warned that conditions will remain difficult, with river levels still on the rise and flood defenses breached. Some parts of the town of Brechin were only accessible by boat after its flood defenses were overwhelmed by the heavy rainfall, raising concerns about further loss of life.