Huge storm sweeps across Germany

[Labarum]

It's quite wild outside and I hear the sirens of the emergency services every 15 mins - I live in the middle of the town close to the hospital and the fire station.

The storm is coming from the SW and we are in the leigh of the Minden Ridge - what its like higher up a dread to think.

The storm crossed UK yesterday.


Huge storm sweeps across Germany
Hurricane-force winds of more than 120km/h (74mph) are battering Germany and have forced the cancellation of dozens of flights.

German forecasters have advised people to stay indoors. Schools across Germany have suspended classes for the day.

The weather system is moving across western states and is expected to reach Berlin by Thursday evening.

German radio says more than 40,000 volunteers are on standby, as widespread damage is expected.

Germany's national rail company Deutsche Bahn has reduced the maximum speed of intercity trains to ordered 200km/h (124mph) - 100km/h slower than usual.

Britain and northern France have also been lashed by the storm.

A British container ship was listing in the English Channel almost 50 miles (80km) off Cornwall. All 26 crew of the MSC Napoli had abandoned ship and taken to liferafts.

The wind has whipped up waves to a height of nine metres (30ft), German media report.

Low-lying areas of northern Germany are preparing for possible flooding.
Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6274377.stm

[Richt]

Re: Huge storm sweeps across Germany

There have been a number of fatalaties in the UK in the last couple of days too Brian.

[Labarum]

Re: Huge storm sweeps across Germany

My son tells me London is gridlocked.
My Brother in Law is stranded in Hamburg Airport.

More here:

Pictures

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6275939.stm

And more story:


Huge storms sweep northern Europe

At least 10 people have been killed as violent storms lashed northern Europe, causing travel chaos across the region.

Britain was the worst hit with seven people killed as heavy downpours and gales of up to 70mph swept the country.

The hurricane-force winds battering Germany have claimed at least three lives and two people are reported to have died in the Netherlands.

The severe weather has forced hundreds of flight and ferry cancellations and prompted road and school closures.

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says schools have been shut and emergency services have mobilised extra staff.


The weather system is moving across western states. German radio says more than 40,000 volunteers are on standby, as widespread damage is expected.

Low-lying areas of northern Germany are preparing for possible flooding.

In the Netherlands, as in Germany, forecasters have advised people to stay indoors.

"Our country has not had a storm like this in years. We advise you to follow weather alarms and messages to the letter," the Netherlands' Royal Weather Service said.

Northern France has also been lashed by the storm.

In other developments:

* A British container ship is listing in the English Channel almost 50 miles (80km) off Cornwall - all 26 crew of the MSC Napoli abandoned ship

* US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cuts short her visit to Berlin in order to leave for London before weather worsened

* London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's largest, cancels 123 flights. Other major airports including Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam and Vienna report delays and cancellations

* Ferries are cancelled or delayed in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland - where minor floods are reported near Helsinki

* Residents along the North Sea coast are warned to expect storm swells up to 3.5m (11.5ft) higher than normal

Are you in the areas affected by the heavy storms? How are you preparing for them? Send us your experiences using the form below:

Story from BBC NEWS:

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[Peytonn]

Re: Huge storm sweeps across Germany

wow... my uncle lives near Nurnberg... my sis calls him about once a week... i'll tell her to call tomorrow... and see how he is...

[Labarum]

Re: Huge storm sweeps across Germany

We lost some tiles off the roof of our own house last night, and a tree fell on the old stables f the conference centre I run.

And now it hits Poland:

Poland battered by deadly storm
A UK lorry driver was killed when his vehicle was blown into a canal
Aftermath of storms
Poland and the Czech Republic are now taking the full force of a storm that has swept northern Europe leaving at least 33 people dead.

At least four people were reported killed in Poland as winds of more than 200km/h (124mph) were recorded.

Meanwhile Germany, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands picked themselves up on Friday after the storm passed.

Some services were returning to normal, but thousands of travellers were still stranded and homes left without power.

Roads, rail lines and electricity pylons were taken out of action by falling trees, collapsing walls and flying wreckage.

The debris also proved deadly.

In Germany, an 18-month-old baby was killed in Munich by a door that was ripped off its hinges, while a 73-year-old man died in Augsburg when a barn door fell on him.


STORM DEATHS
Britain: 10
Germany: 10
The Netherlands: 4
Poland: 4
Czech Republic: 3
France: 2

Ten people were killed in Britain, including a two-year-old boy who was crushed by a wall, and the managing director of Birmingham Airport, whose car was hit by a tree.

Meteorologists said the winds reached "severe gale force" in Britain and were the strongest since January 1990.

They hit hurricane force in Germany, the worst in at least five years.

In the Netherlands, an 11-year-old boy was killed in the town of Riel when he was blown into a car, AFP reported.

As the storm moved east on Friday, a Polish crane operator in the southern town of Katowice was reported killed when his machinery collapsed, and another died in Zaborow, near Warsaw, when the roof of his house fell in.

In the Czech Republic a million people faced power cuts, Reuters reported, while strong winds damaged a terminal roof at Prague international airport and caused some flights to be delayed.

Reports said winds reached 216 km/h (133 mph) at Snezka, in the north of the Czech Republic.

Fallen girder

Germany was trying to get its rail services back on track after the entire network was closed on Thursday.

The disruption came after Berlin's new central station, the biggest rail hub in Europe, was evacuated after the winds tore off a two-tonne steel girder, which crashed 40m (130ft) onto a stairway.

"No-one was hurt, thank God," said Volker Knauer, a spokesman for the station.

Trains were running again on Friday but "delays are to be expected because the early trains are proceeding cautiously," a spokesman said.

Thursday also saw a dramatic rescue in the English channel, as British and French coastguards plucked 26 sailors from a lifeboat in big seas after they abandoned their sinking freighter.

The winds are not expected to weaken until they reach Russia and Ukraine, though the effects were already being felt in those countries on Friday, with a pipeline carrying Russian oil to the European Union via Ukraine being shut down.

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