Seven dead as Western Europe hit by record winds of Storm Ciaran

BRUSSELS: Seven people were killed as Storm Ciaran battered Western Europe on Thursday, bringing record winds as high as 200-kms per hour, floods, blackouts and major travel disruptions.

Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity overnight as the storm lashed the northwest coast, and most remained without power on Thursday. In the Belgian city of Ghent a five-year-old child was killed by falling branches while playing outside.

Also in Ghent, a falling branch killed a 64-year-old woman walking in the city´s Citadel Park with her husband and daughter who was seriously injured.

Falling trees had earlier killed a lorry driver in his vehicle in France´s Aisne region, and French authorities also reported the death of a man who fell from his balcony in the port city of Le Havre. A man in the Dutch town of Venray, a woman in central Madrid, and a person in Germany also died.

“The wind gusts are exceptional in Brittany and many absolute records have been broken,” Meteo-France, the national weather service, said on X.The prefect for the local department said gusts as high as 207 km/h (129 mph) were recorded at Pointe du Raz on the tip of the northwest coast, while the port city of Brest saw winds hit 156 km/h.