Storm Austen cut electricity to customers in four French regions and disrupted rail travel in southern England, as Météo Bretagne registered a 161 km/h gust at Pointe du Raz.
Météo Bretagne later listed a provisional 159 km/h reading at Saint-Malo. It placed the Pointe du Raz gust at 11:36 p.m. ET Thursday (03:36 UTC Friday). France’s national weather service, Météo-France, reported overnight gusts of 129 km/h at Plovan, 122 km/h at St-Ségal, 120 km/h at Ploudalmézeau and 119 km/h at Lannion, excluding semaphore stations.
The U.K. Met Office recorded a 76 mph (about 122 km/h) gust at St Mary’s Airport in the Isles of Scilly. It also logged 75 mph at the Isle of Portland and Needles Old Battery, and 74 mph at Aberporth. The agency’s October high on record is 124 mph, measured at Rhoose, Wales, on Oct. 28, 1989.
French utility Enedis said customers were without electricity in Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire and Hauts-de-France. It said more than 2,000 employees and contractor firms were on standby for restoration work; teams would deploy when weather and road access permitted.
National Rail said fallen trees disrupted South Western Railway services, while an obstruction at Moulsecoomb interrupted trains on the Lewes-Brighton route. A piece of Brighton’s West Pier ended up in the sea amid the storm, the Associated Press reported.
Météo-France expected winds to ease as Austen approached the North Sea and Benelux, and said the storm was France’s first to affect the country this autumn. The Met Office forecast rain and strong winds from Storm Boelo over the weekend. It said many parts of the U.K. could see gusts from 60 to 70 mph, while exposed coasts could face gusts up to 80 mph.
