The day after the passage of Storm Ciaran on Thursday, the affected regions are licking their wounds on Friday, November 3, while a new disturbance is expected in the southwest.
Five departments remain placed on orange vigilance by Météo-France, Friday November 3. Pas-de-Calais for a risk of flooding, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques for rain-flooding and waves-submersion, Haute-Corse for violent winds and Corse-du-Sud for the same reason as well as waves- submersion.
Significant disruptions persist on the electricity and transport networks. “In certain places in Brittany and Normandy, the network has been cut short. (…) We are in an exceptional event,” described the president of Enedis, Marianne Laigneau, during a visit to Saint-Lô. “More than a million people” were also deprived of a mobile network, said Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot.
Two people were killed during the passage of storm Ciaran in France: a truck driver in Aisne when a tree fell on his truck, as well as a septuagenarian who suffered a fatal fall in Le Havre. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will visit Brittany on Friday.
The storm, which shifted east after hitting the Atlantic coast, caused the death of three people in Tuscany, in north-central Italy, where it caused record rainfall. In the town of Montemurlo, an hour's drive northwest of Florence, an 85-year-old man was found drowned in his house and an 84-year-old woman died of illness. The small town of 20,000 inhabitants said in a press release that it had recorded 20 centimeters of rain in a few hours, “unprecedented” readings. A third person died in Rosignano, according to Italian media.
In Florence, “the situation is critical,” warned Mayor Dario Nardella during the night from Thursday to Friday. The Arno river should experience its flood peak on Friday at midday. Three hospitals in the region suffered flooding linked to river flooding. Rail traffic is severely disrupted, thousands of people are without electricity and schools will remain closed in the rural communities hardest hit by the bad weather. “What happened last night in Tuscany has a name: climate change,” said the governor of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, who declared a state of emergency.
In the Flemish city of Ghent, a 5-year-old Ukrainian child, who was playing outside, was injured by falling branches and died in hospital a few hours later, according to the public prosecutor's office. In a separate incident, a 64-year-old woman, visiting from Germany, was also killed in a city park. Her 31-year-old daughter was seriously injured.
Storm Ciaran led to the interruption of part of rail traffic in Flanders and trains were running at reduced speed in the rest of Belgium on Thursday. Maritime traffic was also interrupted for the day in the Antwerp port area. Brussels airport was also experiencing disruptions, but flights continued to operate there despite numerous delays.
One person was also killed in Germany due to falling trees.
In Spain, the part most affected by the storm is the northwest, where some areas of Galicia are on red alert, due to extremely violent winds on the coast. According to the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet), certain coastal areas of the Basque Country are also on red alert, with waves reaching 8 or 9 meters. More than 80 flights were canceled at 11 airports across the country.
In the east of the country, “several fires in the province, aggravated by the wind” were reported near Valencia, local firefighters wrote on X. These fires forced several villages to evacuate. The storm also led to the interruption of rail traffic on Thursday between Ourense and Vigo or between A Coruña and Ferrol, in Galicia, as well as on other small lines in the regions of Cantabria, Asturias or the Basque Country.
In England, strong winds and heavy rain caused significant disruption, with maritime connections from the port of Dover suspended for much of the morning. Hundreds of schools have been closed. In Cornwall, in the southwest of England, more than 8,500 homes were left without electricity.
The Channel Island of Jersey, on red alert, recorded winds of up to 160 km/h and 35 people had to stay in hotels after damage to their homes according to police. All flights have been canceled at Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney airports.
In the Netherlands, one person was killed by a falling tree during the storm. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, around 200 flights, mainly to nearby European destinations, were canceled. Rail and ferry traffic was also disrupted. Faced with traffic jams, motorists were asked to favor working from home.
The Dutch wind cycling championships were also canceled because of… the wind. “Unfortunately the wind became stronger and stronger as the days went by, preventing us from starting the race. Everyone's safety is our main priority,” organizers said, with the maximum wind speed during the race not exceeding 61 km/h.
