Europe Takes a Battering
January 12, 2007
Hurricane "Franz" -- as it is known in Germany -- affected Great Britain, the Netherlands and parts of northern Germany.
According to police reports, the damage caused by the storm in Germany was kept within reasonable limits. Nonetheless, ferry traffic on Germany's Baltic and North Sea coastline was partly interrupted.
In Hamburg, a major port and Germany's second largest city, parts of the harbor were closed in preparation for a storm tide on Friday morning.
Police and firefighters in several German states engaged in rescue operations as several people were injured, mostly by falling trees or in car accidents.
Around 2,500 households in neighboring Poland were left without electricity on Thursday after overnight winds of more than 100 kph felled trees onto power lines, the PAP news agency reported.
The most significant storm damage was reported in the region of the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, as well as in the nearby Masurian town of Elk.
Chaos in England
Meanwhile, severe storms and driving rain caused transportation chaos and flood alerts in Britain. Storms of up to 140 kph lashed Scotland, Wales and eastern England leaving tens of thousands of homes left without power and fallen trees disrupting train travel as many roads closed and rivers swelled.
Rough conditions in the English Channel resulted in the suspension of ferry services from Britain to the French ports of Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne, operators said.
Flooding was reported from mid-Wales as the Environment Agency issued more than 60 flood warnings in England, Scotland and Wales.
Motorists throughout southeast England were left stranded and rivers burst their banks in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.
Fishermen missing
The storm was also responsible for sinking two Irish trawlers.
An Irish coastguard helicopter rescued two crewmen from one of the trawlers, the "Honeydew II" after they had spent 20 hours in a life raft.
But 130-kilometre-an-hour (80 mph) winds hampered a major air and sea search for their two crew-mates, as well as the five-man crew of the other trawler, the "Pere Charles".
The heavy rain and storms were set to continue increasing the risk of flooding in large parts of Britain, the weather office said.
Warm weather across Europe
After its warmest autumn since Columbus discovered the New World, Europe is experiencing an extraordinarily warm start to its winter, said Swiss researcher Jürg Luterbacher, at the University of Berne's Geographical Institute.
"January temperatures have been several degrees (Celsius, 5 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the longer-term average," he said. "That's a lot, that's really a lot."
With 2006 already entering the weather annals as one of the hottest years globally, much of the northern hemisphere is also on course for one of the mildest winters on record.
Germans who flew south for winter warmth cursed themselves for not staying at home; in the German city of Münster, temperatures have been a balmy 12 C (54 F) or more, compared with 7 C (45 F) in some Mediterranean resorts.
In Sweden, brown bears at a popular safari park finally went into hibernation this week, more than two months behind schedule, and trees and flowers that usually bloom in March or April have flowered in December and January.
Meanwhile, across alpine Europe, many ski resorts are laying off workers as they contemplate snowless slopes and empty chalets. In Italy, the world freestyle ski championships, due to take place from Jan. 22-27, have been scrapped, with temperatures of 10 C (50 F) -- the norm for May, not January -- at the Campo Imperatore venue.