Strong winds batter northern Europe

Hurricane strength winds which battered southern Britain on Monday, left a trail of destruction before heading eastwards into mainland Europe.

In all more than a dozen people have been killed mainly due to falling trees or being swept out to sea. Others had lucky escapes such as one man in The Netherlands who crawled out of his drivers’ cab when strong winds blew over his articulated lorry.

Dubbed St.Jude in the UK, the storm was for some reason was given the name Christian as it slammed into Germany and France with winds of up to 160 kilometres per hour bringing torrential rain.

In Denmark as in other places the wild weather brought out onlookers despite warnings to stay indoors.

Student Mike Holm described the adverse weather conditions as crazy, “they are ten times worse than we are used to,” he said.

For those who felt they had to go outside they risked flying debris as two women discovered as they struggled to walk up a street in Denmark.

Homes and businesses are now counting the cost of the damage. Although European insurers say it is too early to give accurate figures on the losses, it is likely to be more than a billion euros.