The China Mail - Fifteen dead as Storm Ciaran batters Western Europe

At least five people died in Tuscany, Italian authorities announced on Friday, declaring a state of emergency as weather specialists reported record rainfall.

Another three people were killed off the coast of Portugal when a sailboat ran aground north of Lisbon in strong swells.

In Italy, the rescue services were called out to dozens of incidents across Tuscany to help motorists stranded in flooded tunnels or hemmed in by trees brought down by the winds.

Tuscany governor Eugenio Giani said the five dead in the Italy storms included an 85-year-old man found drowned on the ground floor of his house in Montemurlo, northwest of Florence.

"What happened tonight in Tuscany has a name: climate change," Giani wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Residents were busy Friday mucking out homes, garages and cellars swamped by the floodwaters, throwing damaged furniture and appliances onto the street, said an AFP photographer on the scene.

Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella described the situation as "critical" in the city, as the level of the Arno River continued to rise.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced an initial state aid package of five million euros for the region as she confirmed a state of emergency to fast-track funding and resources.

- Record winds in France -

Trees felled by gale-force winds caused several of the deaths in Europe. In the Belgian city of Ghent, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old woman were killed by falling branches.

Falling trees had earlier killed a lorry driver in his vehicle in northern France's Aisne region, and French officials also reported the death of a man who fell from his balcony in the port city of Le Havre as the storm hammered the French coast on Thursday.

Three people aboard the Danish-flagged sailboat that capsized off a beach at Torres Vedras north of Lisbon were found dead on the shore near the boat's wreckage, a navy spokesperson told AFP.

A man in the Dutch town of Venray, a woman in central Madrid and a person in Germany were also killed.

Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity as the storm lashed the northwest coast. French President Emmanuel Macron visited the storm-battered region of Brittany on Friday, his office said.

The wind gusts in the western Brittany region were "exceptional" and "many absolute records have been broken", national weather service Meteo-France said on X.

The prefect for the local department said gusts as high as 207 km/h (129 mph) were recorded at Pointe du Raz on the tip of the northwest coast, while the port city of Brest saw winds hit 156 km/h.

The storm interrupted rail, air and maritime traffic in Belgium where the port of Antwerp was closed and flights from Brussels were disrupted.

- Travel disruption -

In southern England, hundreds of schools were closed Thursday as large waves powered by winds of 135 km/h crashed along the coastline.

On the Channel Island of Jersey, residents had to be evacuated to hotels overnight as gusts of up to 164 km/h damaged homes, according to local media.

More than 200 flights were cancelled at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, a major European hub.

Air, rail and ferry services saw cancellations and long delays across several countries.

The effects of the storm were felt as far south as Spain and Portugal, with Spanish authorities warning of waves as high as nine metres (29 feet) along the Atlantic coast.

In Spain, more than 80 flights were cancelled at 11 airports.

- More to come -

The French weather service said storms would continue into Friday, notably in the southwest of the country and on the island of Corsica.

Rail services in western parts of the country would remain disrupted on Friday, said Transport Minister Clement Beaune.

Scientists have warned the world will experience more extreme weather events because of the global warming caused by greenhouse gases.

"But as seas and air temperatures get warmer, we expect some winter storms to bring more rain, and potentially cause more flooding."

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E.Choi--ThChM