Powerful winds from Storm Goretti have left a trail of destruction across northern Europe, resulting in at least 15 weather-related fatalities this week. The severe conditions have caused widespread travel chaos, forced school closures, and cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes during freezing temperatures.
Fatalities and Widespread Damage in the UK
The storm hit southwestern Cornwall and parts of Wales with particular force between Thursday night and Friday. Wind gusts reaching speeds of 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour) toppled trees and damaged infrastructure. In a tragic incident in the town of Helston, Cornwall, a man lost his life on Friday after a tree fell onto his caravan, as confirmed by the Devon and Cornwall police.
As Saturday began, a significant portion of the United Kingdom remained under official weather warnings for snow and ice. The national Met Office specifically cautioned about the risk of black ice causing major "disruption" in Scotland and northern England. The combination of heavy snowfall and the storm's impact led to the closure of approximately 250 schools in Scotland, disrupting the first week back after the Christmas holidays for many students.
The energy crisis persisted into the weekend, with network operator National Grid reporting that around 28,000 homes in southwestern England and the Midlands were still without electricity.
Continental Europe Grapples with Fallout
The storm's fury was not confined to Britain. Storm Goretti swept through other parts of northern Europe, with France bearing a significant brunt. At the peak of the crisis, a staggering 380,000 French households were plunged into darkness. Although repair crews worked tirelessly, the situation remained dire for many by Saturday evening. The country's grid operator stated that by 6:00 pm local time (1700 GMT), nearly 40,000 homes were still waiting for power to be restored.
Transport Networks Paralyzed
Transportation systems across the region experienced severe paralysis. In northern Germany, long-distance rail services, which had been completely halted on Friday due to a separate storm named Elli, only began a slow and partial resumption on Saturday. Deutsche Bahn, the rail operator, highlighted that disruptions were especially acute in the port city of Hamburg, where heavy snowfall compounded the problems.
The recovery is expected to be gradual. A number of crucial rail connections will remain suspended on Saturday, including key routes linking Hamburg to Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Hanover. Services from Hamburg to the western Ruhr region and to Berlin are anticipated to be restored slowly throughout the course of the day.
The series of intense winter storms has underscored the vulnerability of Europe's infrastructure to extreme weather events, leading to tragic loss of life and significant economic and social disruption as communities struggle to recover.
