Storm Ciara Lashes Europe, Flights, Practice Companies Disrupted

London:

Hundreds of flights and trains were canceled across Northwest Europe on Monday when storm Ciara whipped up strong winds after the flogging of Britain and Ireland, where tens of thousands of houses were without electricity.

Swaths in northern France were placed on alert and 130,000 households were cut off from the river due to fear of storm surges on the coast.

Ciara was heading south through France on Monday. The power grid company Enedis reported outages from Brittany in the west to the center and to the east.

Meteo-France recorded wind speeds of 130 kilometers per hour along the coast and predicted maximums of 200 km / h.

Trees and electricity pylons were blown up and roofs torn down in 31 departments, fire and rescue services said.

Britain, which bore the brunt of Storm Sunday with widespread flooding in the north, continued to warn the Meteorological Office of strong winds, heavy rain and snow.

"While Storm Ciara is cleaning up, it doesn't mean we're going into a quieter time," said Alex Burkill, Met Office meteorologist.

"It will be very restless," he said, warning, "snowstorms are out of the question."

Transport across the country was interrupted, and planes, trains, and ferries were canceled or delayed after Ciara brought heavy rains and storm winds.

The highest measured wind speed was 150 km / h in the northwestern Welsh village of Aberdaron.

At the Wet Sleddale Reservoir in the northwestern Lake District National Park, more than 15 centimeters of rain fell within 24 hours.

More than 170 flood warnings persisted early Monday, mainly in the north of England and along the south coast.

The cities of West Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge and neighboring Mytholmroyd were the hardest hit by the storm. The streets were flooded and the cars were submerged.

More than 170 flood warnings persisted early Monday, mainly in the north of England and along the south coast.

On Sunday evening, according to the Energy Networks Association, 62,000 households across the UK were still without electricity.

Wind farm closed

Dozens of flights have been canceled or delayed, and rail companies have asked passengers not to travel, and reduced timetables and speed limits.

The canal ferry between Dover and the French port of Calais was resumed on Monday morning after being stopped on Sunday.

In Ireland, which was on alert due to the risk of coastal flooding, 10,000 homes, farms and businesses remained without electricity.

Belgium was also on orange alert and around 60 flights to and from Brussels had been canceled. In the capital, trees and scaffolding were overturned and some buildings were damaged, but there were no injuries.

The entire Belgian offshore wind farm was shut down because the turbines were automatically stopped for safety reasons when there were strong gusts.

Long-distance transport was discontinued in Germany.

The storm was so violent that "we are forced to completely stop long-distance transport in Germany this Sunday evening," said Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss, AFP.

Several airports in Germany had to cancel flights when the storm broke out from the north. Among others, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Hanover were affected, while 120 flights were scrapped in Düsseldorf on Sunday.

Around 240 flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol, the third largest airport in Europe, were also canceled. This particularly affected KLM, British Airways, easyJet and Lufthansa.

Hit sporting events

Sports events were also affected.

The English Premier League game on Sunday between Manchester City and West Ham was canceled due to "extreme and escalating weather conditions," City said.

The entire Super League football program for women was also canceled, as was the Sunday clash between Scotland and England at the women's rugby tournament in the six nations.

And for British Airways there was an advantage for Storm Ciara: thanks to the storm's tailwind, the airline recorded the fastest flight ever between New York and London.

According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the transatlantic crossing was accomplished in just 4 hours and 56 minutes, the fastest subsonic crossing.

(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and comes from a syndicated feed.)