Storms Boelo and Austen cut power across northern Europe, reports say

Storms Boelo and Austen hit northern Europe within 24 hours of each other, according to reports carried by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and The Local Germany. Le Monde also reported power cuts caused by the two storms. The SCMP and The Local published near-identical wire text, and the Le Monde summary reviewed by Vocemundi uses the same wording, so Vocemundi treats the three as one reporting origin. None of the details below has been independently confirmed. The reports refer to days of the week, not calendar dates.

Power cuts

More than 82,000 homes in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany lost power, according to authorities in those countries as cited by the reports. The SCMP reported that the storms cut power to more than 150,000 homes on Sunday. Phone networks were also disrupted, the reports said.

Britain's Energy Networks Association indicated that more than 400,000 homes had lost power at some stage, according to the SCMP and The Local.

In France, energy company Enedis put the number of homes without electricity at some 288,000 at the peak of Storm Austen on Saturday, according to The Local. About 59,000 homes were still without power at midday Sunday, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, and 2,600 Enedis technicians and contractors were working to restore supply, the outlet reported.

In Germany, Storm Austen cut power to 10,000 homes in and around a southwestern town the report names as Friburg-Brisgau, according to The Local. The town's main hospital said it had to limit service to emergency cases because of the blackout, which also cut the mobile phone network.

Transport and injuries

Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted across northern Europe, according to the SCMP and The Local. At Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, AFP counted some 90 departing flights cancelled on the airport website on Sunday, mainly to European cities including Paris, Rome and Dublin. Dozens of arriving flights were also cancelled. Flights in northern England and Scotland were affected.

Winds of up to 135 km/h (84 mph) were recorded in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland, according to the reports. Fallen trees and power cables blocked roads and rail lines. Part of Brighton's pier, unused since a fire in 2003, blew away during Storm Austen on Friday.

German police said two people were seriously hurt on Saturday when scaffolding blew away during an autumn market in Nastatten. In Brussels, falling trees injured four people on Saturday. Germany's DWD weather agency forecast winds of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) on the northern coast on Sunday.

What remains unclear

The outage figures cover different times and are not directly comparable. The timeline is uncertain: the pier damage is placed during Austen on Friday, while Enedis is cited as putting Austen's peak on Saturday. The reports do not include any information on deaths. They do not describe where Storm Boelo specifically struck.

What each side says

Unnamed experts warned of more extreme weather events because of global warming, according to The Local. The reports do not identify these experts.

Analysis

The reported figures suggest wide but uneven disruption, yet they rest on a single wire origin and cover different time frames, so the overall scale is uncertain. Official updates from network operators and weather agencies in each country would help clarify how many homes remain affected and for how long. The hospital service limits reported in Germany point to how power cuts can spread into health and communication systems. The experts' link to global warming is a general warning; the reports do not set out evidence tying these specific storms to it.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.