Storms Bulu and Austin leave one dead and hundreds of thousands without power across Western Europe

Two storms, named Bulu and Austin, swept across Western Europe over the weekend, mainly affecting Britain, France and Germany. They caused widespread transport disruption and power outages, and falling trees harmed people in two separate incidents.

On Sunday in southwest Scotland, a falling tree killed a man. In northern France, a tree came down and injured one marathon participant.

Power cuts

On Sunday, more than 82,000 households in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany were without electricity. The Energy Networks Association in Britain said that at one point during the storms more than 400,000 households had lost power.

French energy company Enedis reported that around 288,000 households were without electricity on Saturday, when storm Austin was at its peak. By Sunday midday about 59,000 households were still affected, mostly in Normandy and Brittany. A total of 2,600 Enedis technicians and subcontractors were working to restore supply.

Situation in Britain

The UK's national weather service warned that storm Bulu could create life-threatening situations and advised people to stay indoors where possible. A yellow warning for strong winds, the second-highest level on the service's scale, was in force across Scotland and northern England until Sunday evening.

Gusts in western Scotland reached 135 kilometres per hour (37.5 metres per second). Trees and power lines brought down by the storms blocked roads and railway lines across Scotland and northern England. Flood warnings were also issued in Britain, and ferry and air services were disrupted.