The French Alps were on maximum avalanche alert yesterday after Storm Eleanor swept through Europe, killing at least three people, grounding planes and fanning wildfires in Corsica.
Two people died on Spain’s northern Basque coast, the couple swept away by a huge wave, officials said, and another person had to be rescued after attempting to save them.
In France, a 21-year-old skier was killed by a falling tree at Morillon in the Alps where dangerous conditions forced the closure of several resorts.
Photo: Reuters
More than a dozen others were injured by the storm across France, four seriously, civil defense spokesman Michael Bernier said on Wednesday as the nation was lashed by what meteorologists termed the strongest winds in eight years.
On the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, where gusts of up to 140kph were recorded, winds fanned the flames of forest and scrub fires started by downed power lines, leaving three people injured.
In Lenk, central Switzerland, eight people were hurt when a violent gust of wind overturned a railway carriage, while one person was injured by a falling tree in the southern Dutch village of Heesch.
Heavy winds forced authorities to close the airports in Strasbourg and Basel-Mulhouse on France’s border with Germany and Switzerland before they were reopened shortly after midday.
At Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, most departures were delayed on Wednesday morning and a handful of flights had to be rerouted before the winds eased.
The weather wreaked havoc with train services and motorway access in several French regions, the result of fallen trees, power lines and other debris.
About 225,000 homes across France were without electricity, while “particularly intense” flooding was expected on the Atlantic coast.
The Eiffel Tower had to turn away tourists in the morning because of the gusts, before reopening later.
Belgium and parts of Spain were put on “orange” alert, the third of four warning levels, with officials urging people to exercise caution when venturing out.
Most ski resorts were closed in the Swiss and northern French Alps, where gusts reached 250kph at Les Arcs resort.
“You’re better off staying in front of the fire today,” said David Ponson, a ski official in Savoie.
Eleanor is the fourth major storm to hit Europe since last month.
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