Northern Europe storm leaves havoc in wake

Northern Europe storm leaves havoc in wake

Power and transport services across northern Europe are being restored after a powerful storm claimed at least 15 lives.

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Efforts were underway to restore power and transport services across northern Europe on Tuesday after a storm packing record wind speeds claimed at least 15 lives.
   
Across Germany, seven people were killed. Most of the deaths were the result of falling trees. One man also drowned and a woman died when a wall collapsed on her.
   
A French woman, aged 47, reported missing Monday was found drowned on the island of Belle-Ile, off the coast of Brittany.
   
Denmark reported a second fatality when a man crashed his car early Tuesday into a storm-felled tree west of Copenhagen.
   
Rail travellers in northern Germany were facing another day of disruption Tuesday, as tracks between the cities of Hamburg and Kiel remained closed.
   
Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, said it was still too early to estimate the cost of the damage from the storm, which led to wind gusts of up to 173 kilometres an hour in Germany.
   
About 3,600 police and firemen were deployed in the northernmost German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where many schools also remained closed.
   
Authorities in Hamburg said that while public transport services in the city was returning to normal commuters should expect long delays.
   
In Britain, tens of thousands of people remained without power more than 24 hours after hurricane-force winds battered England and Wales.
 
Commuters faced continued delays over delayed train services.
 
Four people were killed in the storms.
   
While the winds and rain had eased off, many areas in southern England remained on flood alert.
   
Cancellations and delays also affected train services in Denmark.
 
Main road and rail bridges re-opened late Monday in Denmark after being temporarily closed due to high winds, including the Oresund bridge that links Denmark and Sweden.
   
The Danish weather service DMI reported record wind speeds of 193 k/ph in gusts on the island of Als, east of Jutland.
 
The previous Danish record was 185 k/ph from December 1999.
   
Efforts to clear train tracks and roads from fallen trees and restore power were underway in Sweden, where no serious injurieswere reported.
 
Trains were halted Monday in south-west Sweden to avoid being stuck on powerless tracks.
   
The storm moved Tuesday east across the Baltic Sea.
   
-Sapa-dpa

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