LONDON (AFP) - A powerful winter storm battered Europe on Friday (Jan 13), killing one woman and leaving 330,000 homes without power in France as flights and train services were cancelled and coastal areas put on flood alert. Eurostar cancelled two trains between London and Paris, while 180 passengers were forced to spend a chilly night on a high-speed Thalys train from Brussels to the French capital that finally arrived 10 hours late. Approximately 32,500 homes in France were without electricity on Saturday morning following a strong wind storm, a spokesman for electricity provider Enedis said. We found ourselves in the dark without heating.”

In France, a woman was killed by a falling tree in her garden in a village near the Mediterranean resort of Nice, while another woman in Albania was found dead on Thursday outside her home in the southern town of Saranda. She had been getting her children ready for school, Le Parisien website reported (in French). ADVERTISEMENT

Since the end of last week, a winter cold snap across Europe has killed more than 60 people, with homeless people and migrants stranded in countries like Greece and Serbia most at risk. Severe weather across Europe has triggered chaos in several countries hit by snow and freezing temperatures in recent days, with Germany experiencing hurricane force winds and major traffic disruptions during the latest cold front.
A winter storm hits Europe with 330,000 people in France losing power, thousands of people in Great Britain evacuated and travel disrupted.