Storm Babet batters Europe: Chaos on the continent as heavy rain and gale force winds pound France, Germany and Scandinavia
Published: 10:21, 22 October 2023 | Updated: 11:26, 22 October 2023
Deadly Storm Babet has continued to batter Europe today, bringing chaos to the continent as heavy rain and gale force winds pound France[2], Germany[3] and Scandinavia.
Shocking footage showed a huge yellow bus being swept away down the fast-flowing raging ravine in France, before becoming lodged between rocks as the murky brown water continued to froth around it.
In Germany high flood waters filled the streets covering shop fronts and doorways while in Denmark boats lined up along the coastline were battered by strong waves, with several Danish towns seeing water levels exceed normal height by seven feet.
Meanwhile in Norway, 20,000 residents were left without power on Saturday, as gales blew roofs off buildings, downing trees and power masts.
Back in the UK, the storm has continued to wreak havoc, with London[4]‘s King’s Cross station being forced to close on Saturday afternoon to stop passengers massing on to platforms after numerous trains were delayed or cancelled.
The killer storm has already claimed the lives of seven people – a number of whom were involved in fatal car crashes.
GERMANY: People make their way across the a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany
DENMARK: Boats are left damaged in the harbour of Roedvig on Stevns as Storm Babet raged through the island of Zealand
DENMARK: The water level around the harbour of Soenderborg in Southern Jutland
DENMARK: Summer houses in Southern Jutland are flooded with water as repairs get underway
This morning a woman in her 80s was found dead at her home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
A four car crash with a HGV on the M4 on Friday, between Chipenham and Bath junctions, saw two women pronounced dead at the scene.
In Scotland, a 56-yera-old was pronounced dead at the scene following a crash at Whigstreet near Forfar, Angus, on Thursday. It came just hours after a 57-year-old woman was swept into a river just 20 miles away ours earlier.
First Minister Humza Yousaf warning on X for people to exercise caution in light of a red severe weather warning in the coastal county and parts of Aberdeenshire.
A man in his 60s died after getting caught in fast-flowing flood water in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire on Friday; police found his body two hours after he disappeared under the water.
Elsewhere, a crash in Calderdale near Halifax, West Yorkshire on Friday night left the 19-year-old driver of a white Seat Ibiza dead and their 18-year-old passenger fighting for their life. The weather conditions were ‘a factor’ in the crash, the Sun reported.
The ongoing storm saw a red ‘danger to life’ warning put in place across parts of Angus and Perthshire, with residents in the town of Brechin being evacuated over the severe risk.
On Sunday night, the council said temporary accommodation had been found for all of those who stayed at the rest centres.
Residents of nearby Bridge of Dun had to be airlifted via helicopter, while in other areas people stranded by floodwater were rescued by boats, including canoes.
SCOTLAND: A car is see on a bridge after being washed away near Dundee following yesterday’s rain
ENGLAND: Flood water surrounds the fields around the River Lugg near Leominister, Herefordshire
DENMARK: Residents check the damage to Hesnaes harbour on the Falster Island
GERMANY: A man makes his way through the flooded streets in Flensburg, northern Germany
SWEDEN: A surfer checks out the waves at Kampinge Stranbad near Holviken, Sweden
ENGLAND: The River Ouse continues to rise in York, with the King’s Arms pub being flooded
SCOTLAND: Sandbags pile up along the side of a river in Brechin
The UK’s Environment Agency has issued three severe flood warnings posing ‘a danger to life’ in the area around the River Derwent in the city of Derby, central England.
Flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, Katharine Smith, said ‘ongoing flooding is probable on some larger rivers including the Severn, Ouse and Trent through to Tuesday.’
Interviewed on BBC One on Saturday morning, Labour MP Toby Perkins said that around 400 homes in his constituency of Chesterfield in central England had been flooded, and that many people now had ‘no idea where they’re going to be living from now’.
A major clear-up operation is now underway in flood-hit areas of Scotland, with teams clearing up debris from the road and assessing damage to bridges, as conditions across the country are expected to improve.
ScotRail said the majority of its services will be able to run as normal today, but a number of lines, including Aberdeen to Dundee and Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, remain closed.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Baltic Sea coast was also battered by strong winds and rain which triggered flooding and the evacuation of around 2,000 people, according to the emergency services in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The highest water levels were recorded around midnight on Friday in the northern town of Flensburg, reaching almost 2.3 metres above normal – a level unseen for almost 120 years.
ENGLAND: Two cars flooded underwater in the Pentagon area of Derby
ENGLAND: An aerial view of the flooded fields near Derby ruby club after the river Derwent burst its banks
ENGLAND: A DFDS ferry arrives into the Port of Dover in Kent amid Storm Babet
ENGLAND: Emergency services arrive at the scene after a TUI plane came off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport
ENGLAND: Chaos at London King’s Cross amid a number of delays and cancellations
Ferry lines and railway service were temporarily suspended in affected areas in Germany, Denmark and southern Sweden.
Copenhagen’s airport canceled 142 flights due to the storm on Friday but resumed operations on Saturday morning.
People were evacuated from homes and campgrounds in severely hit areas in Denmark and dozens of people were without power. The municipality of Haderslev in southern Denmark decided to evacuate the entire coastline.
‘The situation on the coast is now so serious that it is too dangerous to stay there. All affected areas are evacuated and the emergency response is pulling out its crews,’ the municipality said in a Facebook post late Friday.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were affected.
The Danish Meteorological Institute warned of strong winds and elevated water levels throughout the weekend.