At least two people were killed in southern France after Storm Nils battered the region, leaving more than 4,50,000 households without electricity.
High-speed winds and heavy rain caused widespread disruption across southern France, northern Spain and parts of Portugal on Thursday, leading to flight delays and train cancellations.
French officials reported that a truck driver was killed when a tree fell on his windscreen. A second person died after falling from a ladder in his garden in the Tarn-et-Garonne region, according to government spokesperson Maud Bregeon.
In Spain, the authorities confirmed that a woman was killed after she was buried under the debris of the roof of her house, which had collapsed during strong winds. French weather services described Storm Nils as “unusually strong”. Electricity distributor Enedis mobilised around 3,000 personnel to restore power.
“Enedis has restored service to 50 per cent of the 9,00,000 customers who were without electricity,” the company stated. Enedis crisis director Hervé Champenois said that flooding had waterlogged most fields and blocked the majority of roads in affected areas.
Storm Nils is the third major weather event in recent months to cause flooding, claiming lives across three EU nations and impacting thousands of people. Scientists attribute the increasing frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events to climate change driven by rising greenhouse gas emissions.
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