Deaths, Travel Delays in Europe Storm

Dec. 24, 2013 12:04 p.m. ET

The Notre-Dame du Penity chapel was surrounded by flood waters on Tuesday in Carnoet, northwestern France. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

LONDON—A severe winter storm caused major travel problems in parts of western Europe on Tuesday, stranding passengers traveling for Christmas at Paris and London airports and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.
The storm caused four deaths in Britain, including a man who jumped into a fast-flowing river to try to rescue his dog. The severe weather also left a 12-year-old boy crushed to death beneath construction materials in Normandy, France.

Luggage was stacked in the departure hall of Gatwick airport’s north terminal in the U.K. on Tuesday. Getty Images

In Britain, thousands of people trying to get away for the holidays were affected by reduced or canceled train services because of landslides, fallen trees and flooded roads. Flight delays were triggered by power outages at London Gatwick Airport’s north terminal.
The airport, the country’s second-largest, said it was investigating the cause of the outage, but said it was weather related.
Across the English Channel, nearly all long-haul flights out of Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport were delayed because of the storm, according to the Paris airport authority website.
Electricity provider ERDF said the winds left nearly 200,000 homes in western France without electricity.
France’s Interior Ministry says the 12-year-old boy was killed at a construction site in Saint Germain de Tallevande and another person was seriously injured.
The Energy Networks Association, which represents power companies across the U.K., said 150,000 homes were without power, mainly in the south of England.
Power supplier Southern Electric said some may not get electricity back in time for Christmas Day.
The Environment Agency issued hundreds of flood warnings across all of England and Wales, with a severe flood warning—the highest level, warning of danger to life—in southwest England.
Two people died in car accidents, and one woman’s body was pulled from a river in north Wales.
In Spain, extremely strong winds battered the northwestern Galicia region, and a tree that fell down on rail tracks prompted the derailment of a commuter train. None of the 10 passengers or the crew members were injured.
Wind speeds hit 185 kilometers per hour (115 mph) in some coastal areas of Galicia, and the region’s fishing fleet stayed in port. As many as 88,000 homes lost electrical power, and crews were trying to restore it.

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