Winter storm Goretti puts France and Germany on edge

Overnight Thursday, a powerful winter squall crossed western Europe and left significant consequences, especially in France and Germany. Storm Goretti combined hurricane-force winds, heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures, causing disruptions to essential services and affecting the mobility of millions of people.

Tales of thousands of people without power in France

Around 380.000 users were left without power supply in France during Friday morning following the passage of storm Goretti, which hit the northwest of the country with gusts that in some points exceeded 200 km/h, electricity operator Enedis reported.

Most of the outages were concentrated in the Normandy region (266,200 homes), the area most exposed to the storm during the night. Outages were also recorded in Brittany(21,000), Picardy (18.500) and Ile de France (13,500), the company detailed in a statement.

The first official reports on Friday morning did not indicate serious victims because of the bad weather. Given the magnitude of the phenomenon, France activated weather alerts in about thirty departments in the northwest and ordered the closure of schools on Friday.

Germany under storm: trains suspended temporarily

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced the temporary suspension of long-distance trains in the north of the country due to the severe winter storms that are affecting Europe.

In a statement, the company said that "long-distance rail transport in northern Germany is no longer viable."

"Regional traffic in northern Germany is severely affected by the winter conditions, and in some cases has been suspended. Affected areas include, among others, Hannover,Braunschweig, Harzvorland and the S-Bahn in Hamburg. There are also restrictions in the north of the Black Forest, e.g., reduced speed due to high winds."

DB explained that service in the Hannover metropolitan area will remain disrupted until at least noon, which impacts one of its main rail nodes in the region. The company also warned that routes between Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as between Berlin and Hamburg, will suffer disruptions.

According to DB, the decision was made to ensure the safety of both passengers and staff.