Shortly before Christmas, storm “Zoltan” left a path of destruction across Western Europe. Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands were particularly hard hit. There were several fatalities and Christmas trips were also badly affected.
In Belgium, a woman was killed by a 20-meter-high Christmas tree at a Christmas market. The coniferous wood could not withstand a strong gust of wind on Thursday evening, reports Belga news agency. The tree fell on three people, one of whom died a short time later in hospital from serious injuries. The accident site in the municipality of Oudenaarde was cordoned off and investigated after the accident.
Cyclist killed by tree in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, a 37-year-old woman was hit by a falling tree while cycling, the woman’s employer, a healthcare institution, said on Friday. The accident happened on Thursday in Wilp, about 100 kilometers east of Amsterdam. The woman worked as a caregiver in the home for people with disabilities. She was riding with a resident on a so-called duo bike when the tree fell. The other woman suffered minor injuries in the accident.
Denmark also experienced a stormy night, but survived with less damage than feared. However, there was one fatality: an 81-year-old man was killed in a head-on collision in Tappernøje, about 80 kilometers south of Copenhagen, when a driver tried to avoid a fallen tree. During Friday evening’s storm, many fallen trees were reported to the police and in some places the highest water level in several years was also measured. There were miles of traffic jams on the temporarily closed bridge over the Great Belt. In addition, several flights, trains and ferries were cancelled.
Photos from Denmark:
In northern Germany, but also in parts of Hesse, fallen trees damaged overhead lines or blocked routes. Initially, there were no express trains from the north to Hannover, Kassel, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Basel and Munich in the morning. In the early afternoon, the situation in rail traffic eased slightly: the closures have now largely been lifted, but there are still many delays, a spokeswoman said.
Photos from Northern Germany:
The railway expected that the trains would be very busy this weekend – in addition to the already busy Christmas traffic, there would now be travelers who had to postpone their journey to the weekend due to the storm: “It will certainly be full.”
Wind gusts of up to 100 km/h can occur in Germany in the evening
After “Zoltan” continued to cause strong winds on the coast on Friday, the wind should decrease slightly during the day. But it will increase again in the evening hours, Anne Wiese, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD), said on Friday morning. According to the DWD, hurricane-like wind gusts of more than 100 kilometers per hour are possible in the evening. The wind is expected to decrease slightly in the second half of the night and then become stronger again on Saturday evening, although not as strong as on Friday.
Source: Krone
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