Winter storms leave 10 dead in northern Europe

At least 10 people have been killed by icy winter storms in northern Europe, while hundreds of thousands have suffered blackouts and transport chaos.

On Friday, three people died and another wounded in Poland when a tree fell down onto their car near the northern town of Lembork, said firefighters’ spokesman Bogdan Madej.

“Three people died on the spot, another was taken to hospital,” he said.

Other victims lost their lives in similar incidents across northern Europe.

In Germany’s Hamburg, a fallen tree derailed a local train, which then hit a bridge post. Fire fighters pull out six passengers from the train, one with minor injuries.

Six-meter waves — the second highest level since the first records in 1825 –battered the Elbe River harbor of Hamburg.

Still, German officials said the worst situation had been avoided, in comparison with the disasters like heavy floods in 1962 that killed 340 people.

“Germany held its breath and looked at the dykes, and they withstood” the high seas, said Robert Habeck, the environment minister of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany.

“We are much better prepared today” than in 1962, Christian Herold of the meteorological service said.

The storm “Xaver” also hit the Netherlands, Britain, Poland and southern Scandinavia with winds of up to 158 kilometers (98 miles) per hour.

Power and communications cut-off reportedly affected 400,000 families in Poland, 50,000 people in Sweden and 4,000 houses in Germany.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled in most of the European capitals, leaving air passengers stranded.

The 1953 North Sea storm surge killed more than 2,000 people in northern Europe.