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Gales leave trail of damage across Austria

Hurricane-force winds affected some regions of Austria overnight, leaving a trail of damage behind them, but thankfully no recorded injuries.

Published: 30 November 2015 09:46 CET
Gales leave trail of damage across Austria
Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

Heavy squalls were recorded in Upper and Lower Austria, in Vienna, Burgenland and mountainous regions.

In Wiener Neustadt, winds reached hurricane force, with gusts of more than 130 km/h, causing fallen trees and damage to roofs, according to the Wiener Neustadt Volunteer Fire Department.

At least one of the trees brought down power lines, cutting off energy to more than 75 homes.

This tree disrupted power to more than 75 homes.  Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

The capital city Vienna saw wind speeds of 126 km/h, including 101 km/h in the central city.
 
Operations at Vienna's Schwechat international airport were affected by the high winds, with reports in the Kronen Zeitung newspaper of at least one plane that had to abort its landing, and try again.
 
Another plane which arrived shortly before 6pm was unable to dock with the airbridge due to dangerous wind speeds. Passengers had to wait on board for an hour before they could disembark, while the plane was shaken by turbulence.

According to the UBIMET weather service, the stormy winds are expected to continue overnight on Monday, with expectations of gusts in some areas exceeding 100 km/h.

“From the Vienna area up into the Neunkirchen region, gale-force winds were recorded.  The highest readings were in Wiener Neustadt with 130 km/h and Vienna/Unterlaa with 126 km/h”, said UBIMET meteorologist Josef Lukas.

“The strong winds will continue into the day, with gusts between 70 and 80 km/h,” he added.


A plane was damaged when flipped over by strong winds at a regional airport.  Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

But the storm is not over yet.

“On Monday night, the winds will die down.  They will increase again on Tuesday morning, specifically in Vienna and parts of Lower Austria again with heavy squalls of up to 100 km/h expected.  In the southern Vienna Basin there is even a possibility of hurricane strength winds,” warned the meteorologist.

The weather is only expected to settle again by Wednesday.

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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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