Storm hits Latvia: over 20% without power, transport disrupted, minister urges caution

A powerful storm swept across Latvia late Saturday night, which Minister Edgars Tavars described as the strongest in the past 20 years, stressing that the situation is far more severe than two years ago. Posting on Facebook, the minister said the National Guard had been mobilized and urged residents who still had electricity to charge their phones and stock up on water.

According to the minister's update, by around 10:45 p.m. more than 20% of Latvia's territory was without power or experiencing supply disruptions. The storm had felled trees and blocked roads, forcing several hospitals, fuel stations and other key facilities to switch to generator power. Tavars said emergency services were working at full capacity, though strong winds in places were preventing them from operating fully. He also noted that despite warnings having been in place for two days already, traffic remained heavy on the roads late into the evening. The minister said that once the storm subsides, his ministry will join the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development in assessing the damage, which he described as significant and costly. He estimated the storm would only begin to ease well after midnight.

Transport disruptions

Due to poor weather, several flights bound for Riga Airport were diverted to airports in other countries — a flight from Manchester landed in Gdansk, a flight from Faro was redirected to Helsinki, and one from Catania landed in Stockholm. Several outbound flights were also delayed.

Rail traffic was disrupted as well, with delays affecting trains to Aizkraukle, Lielvārde and Zilupe, and a train from Daugavpils running more than three hours late. Late in the evening, power supply faults and trees falling on the tracks forced a complete halt to train service on the Riga–Jelgava and Riga–Tukums II routes.

In Riga, trees broken or uprooted by the wind disrupted public transport on several routes — tram line 11 and trolleybus line 27 were halted, along with parts of other routes, though some services were later restored. Public transport operator Rīgas satiksme said crews were doing everything possible to restore service as quickly as possible. Latvia's environment and meteorology agency had earlier issued orange, yellow and red warnings, and numerous outdoor events across the country were cancelled as a result.