Nine killed as eunice batters europe
London: Storm Eunice killed at least nine people in Europe, pummelling Britain with record-breaking winds and forcing millions to take shelter as it disrupted flights, trains and ferries across Western Europe.
London was eerily empty on Friday after the British capital was placed under its first ever “red” weather warning, meaning there was “danger to life”.
By nightfall, police there said a woman in her 30s had died after a tree fell on a car she was in.
Meanwhile a man in his 50s was also killed in northwest England after debris struck the windscreen of a vehicle he was travelling in, according to Merseyside Police.
Beyond Britain, falling trees killed three people in the Netherlands and a man in his 60s in southeast Ireland, while a Canadian man aged 79 died in Belgium, according to officials in each country.
A motorist was killed when their car crashed into a fallen tree near Adorp in the Netherlands’ northern province of Groningen.
And in Germany, a motorist died after his car was hit by a tree near the town of Altenberge.
In London, the highest weather alert level was declared across southern England, South Wales and the Netherlands, with many schools closed and rail travel paralysed as towering waves breached sea walls.
Eunice’s winds knocked out power to more than 140,000 homes in England, mostly in the southwest, and 80,000 properties in Ireland, utility companies said.
Around London, three people were taken to hospital after suffering injuries in the storm.
High winds also shredded the white domed roof of the O2 arena, which has hosted stars like The Rolling Stones and Rihanna. — Agencies