By Dominique Vidalon, Sarah Young and Miranda Murray
PARIS/LONDON/BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Storm Goretti battered northern Europe on Friday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, shutting schools and suspending rail services in France, Britain and Germany as heavy snow and gale-force winds compounded a week of freezing weather.
Across northern Europe emergency services were left scrambling to deal with heavy snowfall and severe winds from Goretti, which slammed into Britain on Thursday before moving eastwards. In snowbound Germany, one official said it was one of the most severe weather events in the region in recent years.
The powerful storm left around 380,000 households without Widespread power cuts, travel disrupted as Storm Goretti hammers north Europe electricity in France, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, as it rolled into continental Europe.
FLIGHTS CANCELLED
Some 57,000 homes lost power across Scotland and parts of central England overnight according to the National Grid. In the Netherlands, flights were cancelled as heavy snowfall was set to return after a one-day reprieve.
Winds of more than 150 kph (93 mph) were recorded overnight in France’s northwestern Manche region, with a record 213 kph in Barfleur, forcing the SNCF rail operator to suspend services between Paris and Normandy.
French state-owned energy company EDF said that Storm Goretti had hit electricity production at the Flamanville nuclear plant, taking reactors 1 and 3 offline following the loss of a high-voltage line. The storm’s strength, which tore off roofs and uprooted trees, was “exceptional”, Manche prefect Marc Chappuis told BFM TV.
In central England, rail operators warned passengers not to travel and suspended some services as the storm moved through.
FREEZING WEATHER GROUNDS FLIGHTS
The disruption spread into northern Germany, where state-owned Deutsche Bahn halted long-distance train services until further notice, citing one of the most severe winter weather events in the region in many years.
“So far, we have been able to avoid situations where passengers are left stranded on the open track for long periods of time,” a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson told a press conference at Berlin’s central station, adding that crews were working to clear the tracks quickly and safely.
At Hamburg Airport, northern Germany’s busiest air terminal, about 40 flights were cancelled.
The Netherlands’ KLM carrier said it had cancelled 80 flights to and from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport scheduled for Friday. Schiphol had earlier this week cancelled hundreds of flights because of freezing weather.
In Hungary, the military was called out to assist motorists trapped in heavy snow.
Western Balkan countries have seen widespread disruption since Sunday. One person was found dead in Albania on Thursday, which has been hit by extensive flooding, while gale-force winds ripped roofs off buildings in northeastern Turkey.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Sarah Young in London; Miranda Murray and Klaus Lauer in Berlin, Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam and Anita Komuves in Budapest; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Jan Harvey and Alex Richardson)
