Five people were killed by falling trees as Storm Ciaran battered Western Europe on Thursday, bringing record winds as high as 200 kilometres per hour, floods, blackouts and major travel disruptions.
Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity overnight as the storm lashed the northwest coast, and most remained without power on Thursday.
The prefect for the local department said gusts as high as 207 km/h were recorded at Pointe du Raz on the tip of the northwest coast, while the port city of Brest saw winds hit 156 km/h. The Netherlands urged people to stay home and more than 200 flights were cancelled at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, a major European hub.Roosmarijn Knol, weather forecaster for Dutch public broadcaster NOS, said the timing of the storm was important.
The effects of the storm were felt as far south as Spain and Portugal, with Spanish authorities warning of waves as high as nine metres along the Atlantic coast.
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