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Storms cause widespread damage

Storms hit Austria overnight, with gusts of over 100 km/h in some places, and heavy rain. Fire departments were called out to remove fallen trees but so far no injuries have been reported.

Published: 22 October 2014 08:54 CEST
Storms cause widespread damage
Photo: APA/Gindl

The cold front moved in from the west across Germany around midnight, also reaching eastern Austria. 

In Upper Austria strong winds caused damage to two houses. The Mühlkreisautobahn (A7) was blocked between Engerwitzdorf and Gallneukirchen by fallen trees.

In Tyrol the Inn valley motorway had to be closed briefly between Wattens and Wörgl. Gusts of 122 km/h were measured in Innsbruck, and many power lines were damaged.

According to ORF Tirol around 30,000 households were without power for an average of 45 minutes and on Wednesday morning 1,000 people still didn’t have electricity.

In Salzburg 780 firefighters were called out more than 100 times between 10.45pm and 1.00am.

The storm was the tail-end of Hurricane Gonzalo, which caused widespread damage on the island of Bermuda last week.

The Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) has warned people to expect heavy rainfall on Wednesday. Snow could also cause problems on roads and railways in mountainous areas, with the snow line falling to 800 meters.

City authorities in Vienna said construction work at Aspern would be suspended if the winds proved too strong, and urged people to be cautious in city parks as trees may have been damaged and falling branches pose a danger.  

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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: ‘Exceptional’ Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Published: 8 April 2024 14:15 CEST
IN PICTURES: 'Exceptional' Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at Copernicus, said the latest event was related to a weather pattern that has brought warmer weather to parts of Europe in recent days.

“While it is not unusual for Saharan dust plumes to reach Europe, there has been an increase in the intensity and frequency of such episodes in recent years, which could be potentially attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns,” he said.

This latest episode has caused air quality to deteriorate in several countries, Copernicus said.

The European Union’s safe threshold for concentrations of PM10 — coarser particles like sand and dust that that can irritate the nose and throat — has already been exceeded in some locations.

A picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows a rapeseed field under thick sand dust blown in from the Sahara, giving the sky a yellowish appearance near Daillens, western Switzerland. – An “exceptional” dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent’s climate monitor said, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The worst affected was the Iberian Peninsula in Spain but lesser air pollution spikes were also recorded in parts of Switzerland, France and Germany.

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Local authorities in southeastern and southern France announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday.

They advised residents to avoid intense physical activity, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The dust outbreak was expected to reach Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia before ending on Tuesday with a shift in weather patterns, Copernicus said.

The Sahara emits between 60 and 200 million tonnes of fine dust every year, which can travel thousands of kilometres (miles), carried by winds and certain meteorological conditions.

The Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa saw just 12 days within a 90-day period from December to February where skies were free of Saharan dust, the local weather agency Aemet had reported.

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