France: Storm Ciarán brings death, power outage

By Robert Shackelford, Laura Paddison, Joseph Ataman and Tara Subramaniam, CNN

Paris (CNN) — At least one person in France has been killed and 1.2 million people there are without electricity, as one of the strongest storms in decades hit northwestern Europe and barrelled toward southern England.

France’s northwest saw winds of over 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), with gusts at hurricane-force levels of more than 200kmh (124mph) in the department of Finistère, according to the country’s meteorological agency Meteo-France. The wind speeds broke several local records.

Around 780,000 of those without power are in the northwestern region of Brittany, French energy supplier Enedis said in a statement. Fallen trees and electricity pylons uprooted by the storm were to blame for the cuts. Enedis has mobilized around 3,000 workers and 30 helicopters to re-establish power to affected areas.

The person who was killed was hit by a falling branch while driving, according to the French Transport Minister Clément Beaune in an interview with French broadcaster Franceinfo.

As of midnight Wednesday, three administrative regions in Brittany and the northwestern coast were placed in a state of “red alert,” France’s highest weather warning, according to the country’s interior ministry.

The storm has also hit the British Isles and Channel Islands, where red alert warnings are in place. On the island of Jersey, all schools and the airport were closed, according to the government’s website. UK media reports showed images of waves crashing into and breaching sea walls in the southwestern English county of Cornwall.

The combination of strong winds and rain could bring down trees, damage homes and buildings and cause power outages, while flying debris may pose a “danger to life,” the UK’s Met Office has warned. Large waves could damage coastal roads and properties.

Disruption to daily life

Finistère in France also banned all road travel starting Wednesday morning due to obstacles on the road network and the risk of more falling trees, according to the local government.

“The very violent winds and gusts which followed one another throughout the night had the effect of causing many trees, branches and electrical and telephone lines across the entire road network to fall to the ground,” the statement from the Finistère local government.

In the UK, travel problems are expected with airlines, railways and ferry services at risk of disruption. Several rail companies have warned people not to commute, even in the capital, London, where strong winds are expected to hit later Thursday.

Heavy rain could also lead to flash flooding, especially as it falls on ground already saturated by recent rainfall. Some parts of southwestern England could see 80 millimeters (3 inches) of rain, according to the Met Office.

Storm Ciarán follows less than two weeks after Storm Babet, which brought strong winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of Scotland and northern and central England, killing several people.

The human-induced climate crisis is making some storms more frequent and intense. As the Earth’s atmosphere warms, it is able to hold more water vapor — so when it rains, it rains much more intensely.

“There are a lot of attribution studies and other lines of evidence showing that autumn/winter storms like this are more damaging because of climate change,” said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. “The rainfall associated with these types of storms is more severe due to climate change, and the storm surges are higher and thus more damaging due to the higher sea levels.”

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