Storm Austen hits northwestern France: 161,000 homes lose power

The first major autumn storm is sweeping across northwestern France. Named Austen by UK forecasters, it brings violent gusts, disrupts transport and causes power cuts. Storm Austen has caused severe disruption in northwestern France, with 23 departments on orange alert for high winds. Austen intensified rapidly over the Atlantic before heading towards the British Isles and the French coast. Brittany was particularly hard hit overnight from Thursday to Friday, before the violent winds moved on towards Normandy and Hauts-de-France. Gusts were especially strong along the coast, reaching 161 km/h at Pointe du Raz in Finistère. Several weather stations also recorded October wind-speed records. The impact in France is already significant. On Friday, around 161,000 households in the north-west, notably in Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Normandy, were left without electricity. Fallen trees and the difficult conditions are also disrupting rail traffic, and several lines have been suspended as a precaution. Bridges in Seine-Maritime have been closed. Storm will affect more countries The UK Met Office issued an amber warning — the second highest — for wind gusts up to 130 km/h in Cornwall and Devon as the storm named Austen by the agency moved into the area early on Friday. According to the National Grid, which distributes electricity around the UK, more than 16,000 homes were without power in the southwest by late morning. Winds up to 100 km/h are forecast across southern and central England throughout the day as the storm moves eastward along the English Channel coast. In Germany, where the storm has been named Luise by the national weather service, gusts of up to 100 km/h are expected in the West and Northwest. Just days earlier, Storm Adam struck southern France and Spain with severe thunderstorms and torrential rain. Flooding hit the departments of Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône and Var particularly hard. Adam left at least six people dead across Spain and southern France, two of them in France, and thousands of households lost power. A second major storm — Boelo — is expected to bring more wind and heavy rains later in the weekend. The Met Office updated its warning for Boelo from yellow to amber for Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England on Saturday night and throughout Sunday.