One dead as storm Ciaran hits France, KLM cancels Amsterdam Schiphol flights

Storm Ciaran left one person dead and 1.2 million households without electricity on Thursday with parts of Brittany and Normandy on red alert for strong winds and the rest of the northwest on orange alert, officials said.

In the Finistere department in Brittany, where winds of up to 207 km/h were recorded on the Pointe du Raz, two people were slightly injured and road traffic remained prohibited until further notice, local prefect Alain Espinasse told RTL radio.

“I repeat: stay at home,” Espinasse said.

Transport Minister Clement Beaune told Fanceinfo radio that a truck driver died in the Aisne department, northeast of Paris when a tree fell on his truck.

“This shows that even in regions that are not on red alert, there is a very high risk on the road,” Beaune said.

Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said on social network X that the storm left 1.2 million de households without power.

Meanwhile Dutch airline KLM has scrapped dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol airport on Thursday as storm Ciaran is expected to hit the Netherlands with wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres (68 miles) per hour.

“We have decided to cancel all KLM flights to and from Schiphol from early afternoon until the end of the day,” the Dutch arm of airline Air France KLM AIRF.PA said.

Meanwhile France’s weather service put some northern and western regions, including Brittany, under high alert and authorities urged people to stay indoors, saying storm Ciaran was set to hit overnight with heavy rain and winds of up to 170 kph.

“To all those concerned, be careful … and avoid moving around overnight,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.