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At least seven killed as storm batters Europe

Residents in Yorkshire, England clear up after the storm passed through.

Residents in Yorkshire, England clear up after the storm passed through. Photo: Getty

A storm has swept across Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains, killing at least seven people and causing severe travel disruptions.

The storm, dubbed Sabine in Germany but known as Ciara elsewhere, is travelling eastward after first battering the British Isles and then mainland Europe.

Having left a trail of destruction from France to Poland, it is now heading toward Germany.

A woman and her 15-year-old daughter died in Poland on Monday after the storm ripped off the roof of a ski rental equipment building in the mountain resort of Bukowina Tatrzanska.

In Sweden, one man drowned after the boat he and another person were sailing in on the southern lake of Fegen capsized. The victim was washed ashore and later died. The other person is still missing.

Two men, one in the north of Slovenia and another in southern Britain, also died after their cars were hit by falling trees.

In Germany, a driver died after crashing his truck into a trailer parked by workers clearing storm debris off a highway in the southern state of Hesse.

Britain, which bore the brunt of the storm on Sunday, was assessing the damage and working to get power restored to 20,000 homes. However, for parts of northern England and Scotland, the respite is set to be brief, with forecasts of blizzards and snow.

Many parts of the country were mopping up after a month and a half’s rain fell in just 24 hours in some places and rivers burst their banks.

Transport authorities were also working hard to clear up the mess. Network Rail, which runs the country’s rail infrastructure, said thousands of engineers had “battled horrendous conditions” after the storm blew trees, sheds, roofs and even trampolines onto the tracks.

Airlines operating to and from British airports were still being affected by the storm, with more than 100 flights cancelled.

The storm had largely passed through France by midday on Monday, though meteorologists warned that the Mediterranean island of Corsica could later see winds as high as 200km/h.

-with agencies

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