Torrential rain and gale-force winds lashed southern Britain in the worst storm for more than a decade yesterday, causing travel chaos and serious flooding to many regions.
Parts of northern France and Belgium also suffered under the severe weather conditions, and rail, ferry and air services were badly disrupted.
Britain was the worst hit, with up to five people reported killed, much of the nation's rail network brought to a standstill, many roads closed and parts of the south under water.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Another person died and three were injured in France, police said.
In Britain, rail passengers already facing severe delays due to maintenance work at the weekend were stranded as operators suspended services.
By mid-morning only a trickle of trains was reaching London's main stations and hardly any were getting out.
"Nobody should venture out unless it is absolutely essential," Ray Kemp of the government's Environment Agency said.
"It's one of the severest storms, if not the severest storm, since 1987. It is very much a threat to life and limb," he told BBC radio.
Four people died as a direct or indirect result of the conditions.
In Taunton, southwest England, a motorcyclist was killed when he hit a tree on the road early yesterday, and another man died when his car skidded on surface water in South London and crashed.
On Sunday, one person was killed and two seriously hurt in Surrey, south of London, when a tree hit two vehicles. A man of 35 fell overboard in gale force winds on Sunday from a ferry between Rosslare in the Irish Republic and Fishguard in Wales.
A newspaper also reported the death on Sunday of a woman who slipped in heavy rain at a waterfall in Wales.
Several other people were hurt, some seriously, in storm-related incidents across the country.
In London, many underground and overland suburban railway lines were closed after 145kph winds whipped a mass of debris on to the tracks.
Eurostar high-speed train services linking London, Paris and Brussels were suspended, officials said.
"Nothing is running because we haven't got the routes, lines are blocked in various places and we are advising people to make alternative arrangements," a spokesman said.
The high-speed express between London and the country's main international airport, Heathrow, also ground to a standstill, as did the underground service there.
By mid-morning British Airways had cancelled 66 flights from Heathrow and a further 22 from Gatwick, with more due to be scrapped later and many switched to other airports around the country.
There was chaos on the roads too, with long sections of freeway closed and hundreds of kilometers of diversions in operation.
Large parts of the M25 ring-road running round the capital were closed as drainage channels failed to cope with the sheer volume of rain.
Scores of court cases in London were either being delayed or put off until today as judges, lawyers, witnesses, defendants and staff failed to get in.
The Tourism Administration yesterday announced that it would reward repeat international visitors with incentives of up to NT$8,000 to boost inbound tourism. The incentives are available to all international tourists, it said, adding that repeat visitors would be rewarded with NT$5,000 and would receive an additional NT$3,000 if they bring travel companions. The nation received 2,990,657 inbound visitors during the first quarter, marking a 3.8 percent increase from the same period last year, agency data showed. Japanese nationals are among groups visiting Taiwan the most. About 1.48 million Japanese tourists arrived last year, a year-on-year increase of more than 12
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version
‘BRAZEN’: The holiday did not stop China from activities that infringe on Taiwan’s maritime jurisdiction, but the CGA is ready to defend the nation, Kuan Bi-ling said Beijing is intensifying maritime pressure on Taiwan, but the nation will never yield, Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Sung Chen-en (宋承恩) said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has adopted a “shadowing and monitoring” approach to avoid falling into a Chinese trap to escalate tensions and deepen the conflict, Sung said in an interview published yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). China Coast Guard formations patrolling waters east of Taiwan, as well as official Chinese vessels entering areas around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) show Beijing’s attempts to significantly step up
Taiwanese aviator Roger Lin (林睿哲) returned to Taiwan on Saturday after completing a nine-day round-the-world journey in a single-engine aircraft, becoming the first Taiwanese pilot to achieve the feat. Lin departed on June 5 from Los Angeles, California, and continued through Alaska, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Jordan, Norway, Iceland and Canada before landing at the Taipei International Airport (Songshan) via Los Angeles and Japan. Lin shared numerous photos and videos of his journey on a Facebook page titled “Pilot Roger’s Around the World Flight,” including a video showing his aircraft flying over the Danjiang Bridge and
RSS