Storm Ciaran smashed into western Europe yesterday, killing six people and forcing schools, airports and train services to shut down.
A truck driver was killed when a tree fell on him in France while a second death was reported in Le Havre, according to authorities.
Falling trees also caused the death of a woman in the Spanish capital Madrid and another in the south of the Netherlands, local emergency services and police said.
Two people died in the Belgian town of Ghent – a five year old and a 64-year-old German woman visiting the country – the prosecutor’s office said. Both deaths were caused by falling branches.
In France, 1.2 million households were left without electricity.
Authorities in Finistere, Brittany, urged people to stay at home and avoid winds which were hitting 207kph, leading to reports of 20-metre waves off the coast.
Storm Ciaran, which follows on the heels of Storm Babet two weeks ago, was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have already caused heavy flooding in Northern Ireland and parts of Britain.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that in addition to the death of truck driver, 15 people, including seven firefighters, had been injured. One person was seriously injured in the northern French town of Roubaix, he said.
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