Weather | Storm leads to flights cancelled in Switzerland; shortages over Europe

The storm battering many parts of western Europe has led to power outages in Switzerland, canceled flights at Zurich and Basel, and toppled a truck on a Swiss highway.

Local media reported that at least 11 flights were canceled while several others were rerouted to other airports.

Thousands of households at Lake Zurich were left without power because of the storm and firefighters received repeated calls to help with toppled trees blocking streets and flooding due to heavy rains.

Online news site 20Minuten reported that a truck was toppled over on a highway near Emmen.

France’s interior ministry says nine people have been injured in a violent wind storm pummeling the country.

Four people are said to be in serious condition following accidents caused by the winds that reached speeds above 100 mph (160 kph) yesterday.

In the Paris region a falling tree hit a car and seriously injured one person, while another resident was seriously hurt falling from a building.

In the Eure-et-Loir, a motorcyclist hit a tree that had been uprooted and fell into the road. In the east, a woman was seriously injured after an object hit her in the head.

First responders have made 3,250 interventions related to some of the worst winds to hit France in years.

The national electricity provider says a violent windstorm has left some 200,000 households without electricity across the country, including 30,000 in the Paris region.

Further north, zoos have been closed, roads flooded and a train has derailed as a winter storm batters large parts of Germany.

The German news agency dpa reported yesterday that a train derailed near Luenen in western Germany when it crashed against a tree that had fallen on the tracks. No injuries were reported.

Highways near Duisburg and Juelich in the west were also partially blocked because of toppled trees and flooding.

The zoos in Munich and Augsburg in Bavaria closed for the day and the railway leading up on Germany’s tallest mountain, the Zugspitze, was also shut down because of the bad weather.

In the UK, a severe storm packing winds of up to 100 miles per hour has battered Britain and Ireland overnight.

The storm, which included heavy rain, hail and lightning left tens of thousands of households in Ireland and Britain without power, and also led to some bridge and road closures.

Extremely high tides also caused the partial collapse of a harbor wall in Cornwall in southwestern Britain.

Overturned vehicles forced officials to close portions of three major highways in England.

The country’s main weather forecaster, the Met Office, says gusts reached 100 mph in Cumbria 450 kilometers northwest of London yesterday when the storm reached its peak.

Forecasters said gusts of up to 80 mph are possible today. MDT/AP