Storm Austen, which deprived around 288,600 homes of electricity in the north-west of France on Friday October 23, with 148,500 homes affected in Brittany, 88,800 in Pays de la Loire, 49,600 in Normandy and 7,800 in Hauts-de-France, according to a report from Enedis on Friday midday.
Météo France reports notably report wind gusts of 161 km/h at Pointe du Raz, in Finistère. No serious injuries were reported at midday but the winds, locally violent, felled numerous trees, disrupting road and rail traffic in particular.
During the night, gusts of 120 to 140 km/h were recorded in Brittany and in the west of the Channel. This Normandy department is, according to the forecasting organization, particularly exposed to the storm, "with gusts of up to 120 km/h inland (and 130 to 140 km/h on the coast) and winds only really starting to weaken at the end of the afternoon".
These "violent winds" have "resulted in nearly 300 interventions by firefighters since last night, 160 interventions by the gendarmes and 150 interventions by the department of Finistère, in particular to clear trees and branches on the roads", indicated Christophe Kirgo, chief of staff of the prefect of the department, this Friday morning on franceinfo. The Iroise bridge, which connects Brest to the rest of Finistère, closed since Friday morning, was to reopen "to traffic at 2 p.m.", indicates the prefecture in a press release. “In Brittany, three people were electrified,” according to the prefecture, which reminds “that under no circumstances should you touch a power line that has fallen to the ground.” In total, firefighters have “intervened 384 times since the start of the episode”.
In Le Mans, the roof of the Théâtre des Quinconces, Place des Jacobins, threatened to fly away this Friday, October 23 because of strong gusts of wind from storm Austen, reports ICI Maine. Security operations are underway.
Furthermore, “disruptions are underway at Île-de-France and Western airports and are expected to continue until the end of the day,” says Philippe Tabarot, the minister responsible for Transport, on X Friday. “Delays” and “flight cancellations” are to be expected at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly and Nantes airports, he adds. All flights scheduled by Transavia on Friday morning from Nantes airport have been canceled, according to the airport website.
In Seine-Maritime and Calvados, traffic is notably “prohibited on the Normandy Bridge and the Grand Canal viaduct for pedestrians and two-wheelers” and all vehicles. Furthermore, traffic has been temporarily prohibited on the Tancarville bridge for pedestrians and two-wheelers since 6 a.m., indicates Bison Futé. In Loire-Atlantique, the Cheviré bridge, west of Nantes, has been closed since 7 a.m., according to Bison Futé. Traffic was able to resume on the Saint-Nazaire bridge, which was closed from 4:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., but it is lowered to 50 km/h, specifies the department.
As a precaution, rail traffic is interrupted on the Normandy lines, partially on the Breton and Northern lines and disruptions are expected on Saturday, warned the SNCF. The arrival of the storm disrupts rail traffic on several routes in the north of France, according to the TER Hauts-de-France account X. No trains will run this Friday between Amiens and Rouen, Creil and Beauvais, Amiens and Compiègne.
Depression Austen is expected to transit north of Hauts-de-France on Friday before moving towards the Benelux, Météo-France indicates. Traffic has been interrupted since 10 a.m. between Paris and Beauvais as well as between Paris and Laon.
In Île-de-France, “major disruptions” are underway “on the RER C, D and E, as well as traffic interruptions on several Transilien lines”.
The Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture once again warns sea users in a press release on Friday. “A strong gale warning is forecast this Friday and until tomorrow morning, from the Belgian border to La Hague. A southerly to southwesterly wind of force 8 to 9 sometimes 10 (on the Beaufort scale) is forecast, accompanied by gusts.”
This involves "very harsh to extreme weather conditions, evolving from a gale to a storm with average wind speeds of between 34 and 55 knots (or 62 to 102 km/h). At this level, navigation becomes particularly dangerous and significant material damage occurs on land as well as at sea. Caution and vigilance are imperative to avoid any accident or endangerment situation." Boaters, in particular, must not go out to sea “under any circumstances.”
If the British ferry company P&O maintains its departures from Calais, its Danish competitor DFDS has canceled crossings between Dover and Calais until Saturday morning.
