Storms batter northern Europe, hitting power supplies, flights and phones
Tens of thousands of homes in Britain, France and Germany lost power as storms Boelo and Austen hit within 24 hours of each other
Storms battered northern Europe on Sunday cutting power to more than 150,000 homes, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and silencing phone networks.
Winds of up to 135km (84 miles) an hour were recorded in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland and fallen trees and power cables blocked roads and rail lines across the country.
More than 82,000 homes in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany had power cuts inflicted by the passage of storms Boelo and Austen within 24 hours of each other, authorities in the countries said.
Britain’s Energy Networks Association indicated that more than 400,000 homes had lost power at some stage during the storms. Part of the pier at Brighton on the southern England coast, unused since a fire in 2003, blew away in Storm Austen on Friday.
