A powerful storm system, named "Goretti" by Météo-France, moved across the United Kingdom and France on Friday, leaving downed trees and power cuts affecting nearly half a million customers.
The storm also spread snow across parts of Great Britain.
The worst of the 55,000 U.K. power outages were in the southwest at Cornwall, where 73 percent of National Grid U.K. power customers were without power as of Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.US.
A weather station at Padstow NCI in Cornwall recorded a wind gust of 123 mph (198 km/h). One man had his home's roof ripped off as hail and rain poured in through cracks in the walls. Off the southwest shore, a peak gust of 99 mph (159 km/h) was reported at St. Mary's on the Isles of Scilly, the highest there since 1991, the Met Office said.
To the southeast, a 121 mph (195 km/h) gust was measured at Barfleur, on the tip of France's Cotentin peninsula. Winds were even worse in Normandy, France, with a wind gust of 132 mph (212 km/h) recorded in Gatteville-le-Phare. At one point, more than 380,000 customers were without power in France.
The storm affected rail services in the English West Midlands, as well as trains in France and Germany.
Travel and school disruptions in Scotland from a storm earlier this week were extended by Friday's storm. The nation was hit with 20 inches (51 cm) of snow on Monday, and many schools shuttered again on Friday, wrapping up a full week of closures.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Step by step instructions to Boost the Eco-friendliness of Your Smash 1500. - 2‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ trailer is raising eyebrows among Potterheads: ‘Where’s the whimsical color?’
- 3Modern surgery began with saws and iron hands – how amputation transformed the body in the Renaissance
- 4You finally got a doctor's appointment. Here's how to get the most out of it
- 520-year-old who threatened German train attack remanded in custody
- Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 5 people and wound 30 more
- As nations push for more ambition at climate talks, chairman says they may get it
- Building Tough Connections: Individual Bits of knowledge on Association
- Vote In favor of Your Favored Keeping an eye on
- He made a name for himself posting thirst traps on TikTok. Now he's the star of a wildly popular rom-com.
- Artemis 2 astronauts reveal adorable zero-g indicator 'Rise' | Space photo of the day for March 31, 2026
- Exclusive-Head of Pemex's production arm to step down in coming days, sources say
- 6 Trail blazing Bicycles for Rough terrain Undertakings
- Senegal president signs tough new anti-LGBT law doubling jail terms
