Winds up to 180 kilometers per hour (108 mph) slammed France's Atlantic coast overnight as Storm Ciaran lashed countries around western Europe, uprooting trees, blowing out windows and leaving 1.2 million French households without electricity Thursday.
Heavy rain associated with the storm pushed ashore at the southwest tip of England, and the U.K.'s national weather forecaster warned of flood risks and urged people to take precautions. Dutch airline KLM scrapped all flights from the early afternoon until the end of the day, citing the high sustained wind speeds and powerful gusts expected in the Netherlands.
