Dubai Telegraph - Three dead as Storm Eunice batters Europe

EUR -
AED 3.879921
AFN 70.774705
ALL 97.658441
AMD 409.488241
ANG 1.905213
AOA 963.376768
ARS 1054.320885
AUD 1.627536
AWG 1.901401
AZN 1.801486
BAM 1.943481
BBD 2.134372
BDT 126.319293
BGN 1.9558
BHD 0.398119
BIF 3061.256379
BMD 1.056334
BND 1.412811
BOB 7.304697
BRL 6.133815
BSD 1.057139
BTN 89.15023
BWP 14.343757
BYN 3.459372
BYR 20704.14942
BZD 2.130774
CAD 1.478319
CDF 3026.39715
CHF 0.935785
CLF 0.037514
CLP 1035.112444
CNY 7.631383
CNH 7.652882
COP 4731.320676
CRC 539.798787
CUC 1.056334
CUP 27.992855
CVE 110.756993
CZK 25.285045
DJF 187.73139
DKK 7.458754
DOP 63.776161
DZD 141.547711
EGP 52.10252
ERN 15.845012
ETB 128.925753
FJD 2.399199
FKP 0.831283
GBP 0.831356
GEL 2.884081
GGP 0.831283
GHS 17.012698
GIP 0.831283
GMD 74.999517
GNF 9116.163919
GTQ 8.168224
GYD 221.158132
HKD 8.219706
HNL 26.472039
HRK 7.535367
HTG 138.99552
HUF 407.89813
IDR 16738.565373
ILS 3.965716
IMP 0.831283
INR 89.179585
IQD 1384.325909
IRR 44463.742746
ISK 147.284729
JEP 0.831283
JMD 167.357086
JOD 0.749047
JPY 164.334965
KES 136.790508
KGS 91.061436
KHR 4278.153377
KMF 492.621303
KPW 950.700505
KRW 1481.899804
KWD 0.324971
KYD 0.880916
KZT 521.017397
LAK 23181.253406
LBP 94594.723681
LKR 308.961568
LRD 194.36531
LSL 19.278261
LTL 3.11908
LVL 0.638966
LYD 5.144042
MAD 10.518957
MDL 19.048258
MGA 4917.235703
MKD 61.531456
MMK 3430.932127
MNT 3589.423527
MOP 8.469315
MRU 42.121293
MUR 49.531301
MVR 16.320345
MWK 1833.795702
MXN 21.69129
MYR 4.711444
MZN 67.498546
NAD 19.277515
NGN 1771.95785
NIO 38.851914
NOK 11.767666
NPR 142.642227
NZD 1.796592
OMR 0.406667
PAB 1.057099
PEN 4.016129
PGK 4.156411
PHP 62.152628
PKR 293.713639
PLN 4.341243
PYG 8250.095155
QAR 3.845638
RON 4.975967
RSD 116.975311
RUB 104.047459
RWF 1441.89612
SAR 3.969228
SBD 8.855836
SCR 14.40717
SDG 635.387436
SEK 11.603515
SGD 1.418836
SHP 0.831283
SLE 24.100276
SLL 22150.800682
SOS 603.695541
SRD 37.267363
STD 21863.98426
SVC 9.24937
SYP 2654.071001
SZL 19.278362
THB 36.91096
TJS 11.263007
TMT 3.707733
TND 3.32481
TOP 2.474044
TRY 36.2854
TTD 7.183466
TWD 34.278574
TZS 2809.848602
UAH 43.672836
UGX 3879.409365
USD 1.056334
UYU 44.567497
UZS 13547.485199
VES 47.531547
VND 26772.789136
VUV 125.410144
WST 2.954552
XAF 651.855898
XAG 0.034887
XAU 0.000411
XCD 2.854796
XDR 0.796378
XOF 651.239726
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.875515
ZAR 19.259818
ZMK 9508.281216
ZMW 28.91707
ZWL 340.139167
  • RBGPF

    -0.8500

    59.34

    -1.43%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.11

    -0.7%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

Three dead as Storm Eunice batters Europe
Three dead as Storm Eunice batters Europe

Three dead as Storm Eunice batters Europe

Storm Eunice killed three people in Europe on Friday, pummelling Britain with record-breaking winds and forcing millions to take shelter as it disrupted flights, trains and ferries across Western Europe.

Text size:

London was eerily empty after the British capital was placed under its first ever "red" weather warning, meaning there is "danger to life".

The same rare level of alert was in place across southern England, South Wales and the Netherlands, with many schools closed and rail travel paralysed, as towering waves breached sea walls along the coasts.

Eunice knocked out power to more than 140,000 homes in England, mostly in the southwest, and 80,000 properties in Ireland, utility companies said.

Two people were killed by falling trees in the Netherlands, Dutch emergency services said. A man in his 60s was killed by a tree in the Ballythomas area of southeast Ireland, police said.

Around London, three people were hospitalised after suffering injuries in the storm, and a large section of the roof on the capital's Millennium Dome was shredded by the high winds.

One wind gust of 122 miles (196 kilometres) per hour was measured on the Isle of Wight off southern England, "provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England", the Met Office said.

At the Tan Hill Inn, Britain's highest pub in Yorkshire, staff were busy preparing even if the winds remained merely blustery in the region of northern England.

"But with the snow coming in now, the wind's increasing, we're battening down the hatches, getting ready for a bad day and worse night," pub maintenance worker Angus Leslie told AFP.

- 'Sting jet' -

Scientists said the Atlantic storm's tail could pack a "sting jet", a rarely seen meteorological phenomenon that brought havoc to Britain and northern France in the "Great Storm" of 1987.

Eunice caused high waves to batter the Brittany coast in northwest France, while Belgium, Denmark and Sweden all issued weather warnings. Long-distance and regional trains were halted in northern Germany.

Ferries across the Channel, the world's busiest shipping lane, were suspended, before the English port of Dover reopened in the late afternoon.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed at Heathrow and Gatwick in London, and Schiphol in Amsterdam. One easyJet flight from Bordeaux endured two aborted landings at Gatwick before being forced to return to the French city.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has placed the British army on standby, tweeted: "We should all follow the advice and take precautions to keep safe."

Environment Agency official Roy Stokes warned weather watchers and amateur photographers against heading to Britain's southern coastline in search of dramatic footage, calling it "probably the most stupid thing you can do".

- Climate impact? -

London's rush-hour streets, where activity has been slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, were virtually deserted as many heeded government advice to stay home.

Trains into the capital were already running limited services during the morning commute, with speed limits in place, before seven rail operators in England suspended all operations.

The London Fire Brigade declared a "major incident" after taking 550 emergency calls in just over two hours -- although it complained that several were "unhelpful", including one from a resident complaining about a neighbour's garden trampoline blowing around.

Widespread delays and cancellations were reported on bus and ferry services, with high bridges closed to traffic.

The RAC breakdown service said it was receiving unusually low numbers of callouts on Britain's main roads, indicating that motorists are "taking the weather warnings seriously and not setting out".

The storm forced Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, to postpone a trip to South Wales on Friday "in the interests of public safety", his office said Thursday.

Another storm, Dudley, caused transport disruption and power outages when it hit Britain on Wednesday, although damage was not widespread.

Experts said the frequency and intensity of the storms could not be linked necessarily to climate change.

Therefore, he said, "flooding from coastal storm surges and prolonged deluges will worsen still further when these rare, explosive storms hit us in a warmer world".

H.El-Hassany--DT