Storms Boelo and Austen have killed one man in Scotland, cut power to more than 150,000 homes and disrupted transport and communications across northern Europe.
A 60-year-old man died in south-west Scotland on Sunday after being struck by a falling tree, while two women were injured by another tree in central Scotland.
More than 82,000 homes in the UK, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany were without electricity after the storms swept through the region within 24 hours.
Winds of up to 135km/h (84mph) were recorded in Argyll and Bute. Fallen trees and power cables blocked roads and railway lines across Scotland and northern England, while authorities warned of flooding in parts of both countries.
The Met Office warned that Boelo posed a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves, and advised people to remain indoors as far as possible.
Power cuts and disruption across Europe
In France, energy company Enedis said 288,000 homes had lost electricity at the height of Austen on Saturday. About 59,000 remained without power by midday on Sunday, mainly in Normandy and Brittany.
A marathon runner in northern France suffered minor injuries after being hit by a tree brought down by strong winds.
In Germany, Austen left 10,000 homes in and around Freiburg-Breisgau without electricity. The blackout also disrupted the mobile phone network, forcing the town’s main hospital to restrict its services to emergency cases.
Two people were seriously injured in the German town of Nastatten on Saturday when scaffolding was blown down at a market, police said.
The storms also affected Belgium and the Netherlands. Four people were injured by falling trees in Brussels, while three crew members on a freight ship were hurt north of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog.
Two of the ship’s crew were winched to safety and taken by helicopter to a hospital on the mainland, according to the Dutch coastguard.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted across northern Europe, including at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. In Brighton, Austen blew away an unused pier on Friday.
Experts have warned that climate change is contributing to more extreme weather events.
