At least 10 people have died as storm Ciaran battered western Europe with record-breaking winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, causing travel chaos with ports closed and flight and rail disruptions, AFP reports.
Three people have died in Tuscany, Italian authorities said Friday, reporting record rainfall and the declaration of a state of emergency.
The governor of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, said the three dead included an 85-year-old man who was found drowned in his home.
“What happened tonight in Tuscany has a name: climate change,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, said that “the situation is critical” in the city.
Trees blown down by stormy winds caused the majority of deaths in Europe. In the Belgian city of Ghent, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old woman were killed by falling branches.
Falling trees earlier killed a truck driver in his vehicle in the northern French region of Aisne, and French authorities also reported the death of a man who fell from his balcony in the port city of Le Havre.
A man in the Dutch town of Venray, a woman in the center of Madrid and a person in Germany also died.
About 1.2 million French homes lost power as the storm battered the northwest coast. Almost 700,000 people were left without power on Thursday night, network manager Enedis said.
French President Emmanuel Macron is to visit the storm-hit Brittany region on Friday, the Elysee presidential palace said.
