PARIS – Ferocious bomb cyclone Storm Ciaran slammed parts of France and England Thursday with hurricane-force winds topping 100 mph in several locations, leaving at least one dead and over a million without power in France.
Reuters reported a truck driver died just outside of Paris when a tree fell into his vehicle.
Ciaran explosively developed through the day Wednesday, tapping into a robust jet stream that stretched from New England across the North Atlantic Ocean. The storm’s central pressure dropped from 989 millibars Tuesday night to 953 millibars just 30 hours later Thursday morning, easily reaching the criteria for a bomb cyclone as the center of the storm aimed southern England and the English Channel Thursday.
SCREAMING JET STREAM OVER NORTHEAST FUELS BOMB CYCLONE CIARAN
With Ciaran’s destructive pressure gradient focused on its southern side, southern England and northern France took the brunt of the wrath. Pointe du Raz, France, recorded a gust of 129 mph, while Ile de Batz hit 121 mph, according to Meteo France. Gusts reached 118 mph in Brignogan, 101 mph in Saint-Segal and 96 mph in Brest.
France’s Minister of Transport, Clement Beaune, said on X that airports in Brest and Quimper remained closed Thursday morning and urged people to stay off the roads and work from home if possible.
About 1.2 million people in France had lost power so far in the storm, according to France’s energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher.
Ciaran did not spare the British Islands in the English Channel either, with a peak gust of 93 mph recorded at the airport in Jersey, while Guernsey reached 78 mph, according to the U.K. Met Office. On England’s mainland, Langdon Bay near Dover recorded a gust of 71 mph while Cardinham clocked a gust of 68 mph.
High-wind alerts remain in effect across northern France and southern England Thursday, with gradually easing conditions heading into Friday.
Today’s Weather News on Fox Weather
About Author
