A man was killed in southwest England after a tree fell onto a caravan amid record winds brought by Storm Goretti, as severe weather continued to trigger power cuts and transport disruption across parts of Europe.
The victim, believed to be in his 50s, was found dead in the town of Helston in Cornwall on Friday, police said. “Tragically, a man aged in his 50s was located deceased within the caravan,” Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement, according to AFP.
Storm Goretti swept through southwestern Cornwall and parts of Wales overnight from Thursday into Friday, with wind gusts reaching up to 160 kmph, UK authorities said. The intense winds uprooted trees and damaged power infrastructure, leaving tens of thousands of homes without electricity.
The UK Met Office said much of the country remained under weather warnings for snow and ice on Saturday, cautioning that black ice could cause further disruption in Scotland and northern England. Heavy snowfall earlier in the week had already led to the closure of about 250 schools across Scotland during the first week after the Christmas break.
National Grid said around 28,000 homes were still without power across southwestern England and the Midlands at the start of the weekend.
The storm system also impacted mainland Europe. In France, nearly 100,000 households were without electricity on Saturday morning, officials said.
In Germany, long-distance rail services began to resume on Saturday after being completely suspended the previous day due to another storm, Elli, according to rail operator Deutsche Bahn. However, disruption continued in the northern port city of Hamburg, where heavy snowfall worsened conditions. Several routes, including connections to Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Hanover, remained suspended, while services to Berlin and the Ruhr region were expected to be restored gradually.
Across Europe, at least 15 people have died in weather-related incidents this week as storms, powerful winds and freezing temperatures disrupted travel, forced school closures and cut power to hundreds of thousands.
