Storm Ciaran Ravages Western Europe, Claiming 10 Lives

Storm Ciaran unleashed its fury across Western Europe, delivering record-breaking winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.

This resulted in travel chaos, closed ports, and disruptions in flights and rail services. The tempest claimed at least 10 lives and caused widespread destruction in its path. Italian authorities reported three fatalities in Tuscany, underscoring the region's record-breaking rainfall and necessitating the declaration of a state of emergency. Among the victims was an 85-year-old man found drowned in his home. Tuscany governor Eugenio Giani emphasized the link between the storm's impact and climate change, stating, "What happened tonight in Tuscany has a name: climate change." The city of Florence faced a critical situation, according to Mayor Dario Nardella. Throughout Europe, the primary cause of casualties was falling trees, as gale-force winds brought down numerous trees. Tragically, in the Belgian city of Ghent, both a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old woman lost their lives due to falling branches. In northern France's Aisne region, a lorry driver was killed when a tree toppled onto his vehicle, while in the port city of Le Havre, a man fell from his balcony and did not survive. Additional fatalities occurred in the Dutch town of Venray, central Madrid, and Germany. The storm left a trail of power outages, affecting approximately 1.2 million households in France, particularly along the northwest coast. As of Thursday evening, nearly 700,000 households remained without electricity, according to network manager Enedis. French President Emmanuel Macron planned to visit the storm-ravaged region of Brittany to assess the situation. Storm Ciaran also disrupted transportation services in Belgium, where the port of Antwerp was closed and flights departing from Brussels experienced disruptions. The storm Ciaran's impact was exacerbated by the "exceptional" wind gusts experienced in western Brittany, with national weather service Meteo-France reporting the shattering of numerous wind records. The perfect for the local department cited gusts reaching as high as 207 kilometres per hour (129 mph) at Pointe du Raz on the northwest coast's tip, while Brest, the port city, experienced winds reaching 156 kilometres per hour.