Europe weather: Heavy storms batter region, at least 12 dead
- Severe weather warnings continue and rescue services are on high alert after hail, heavy rain and winds up to 224km per hour swept the region this week
- Europe has been dealing with extreme weather all summer, which experts say is influenced by climate change
Authorities in Germany warned of further heavy rainfall in the south on Friday and put air rescue services on high alert, after severe storms killed at least 12 people elsewhere in Europe a day earlier.
Two girls, ages 4 and 8, were killed when sudden strong winds toppled trees late on Thursday at a lake in the Lavant Valley of southern Austria. Officials said 13 people were injured, two of them seriously. Many of the victims were holidaymakers visiting the tourist region.
Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen called the children’s deaths “an unfathomable tragedy”. The mayor of the nearby town of Wolfsberg, Hannes Primus, said the area looked “like a battlefield”.
In Lower Austria, three women were killed when lightning struck a tree near the central town of Gaming, causing it to fall over.
Fierce storms also killed at least seven people in France and Italy on Thursday. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Friday during a visit to Corsica that five people were killed after hail, heavy rain and winds peaking at 224km per hour (140mph) swept the island on Thursday morning.
Germany’s national weather service DWD warned of “extremely abundant, prolonged rain” along the edge of the Alps could drop as much as 140 litres of water per square meter (5.5 inches) over a 48-hour period that could cause flooding.