Storm Ciarán, known in Germany as Storm Emir was a

European windstorm European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak intensit ...

that severely affected parts of Europe from late October to early November 2023. Part of the 2023–24 European windstorm season, Ciarán impacted northwestern Europe and killed 21 people, eleven of whom were in Italy and four in France. It also caused mass disruption to transport. Widespread damage from winds were reported in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, while 1.2 million French households were left without electricity.

Prelude

Storm Ciarán was named by the United Kingdom's

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

on 29 October, while the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

named the system Emir on 30 October. It was expected to bring winds of 90 to 120 km/h (60 to 70 mph) widely with >130 km/h (>80 mph) on some coasts. More heavy rainfall was expected to fall which would exacerbate the flooding from Storm Babet a week prior. The Met Office's long-range forecast stated that Storm Ciarán would move away on 3 November, with many places still with blistering winds and rain spells. The

were due to be hit with gusts around with schools closed and a red weather warning in place. On 1 November, this was updated to a Force 11 violent storm, with the Met Office stating that Storm Ciarán was undergoing

explosive cyclogenesis Explosive cyclogenesis (also referred to as a weather bomb, meteorological bomb, explosive development, bomb cyclone, or bombogenesis) is the rapid deepening of an Extratropical cyclone, extratropical cyclonic low-pressure area. The change in pr ...

. The storm would impact the Netherlands on 2 November. The storm especially affected the Isle of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, where a strong thunderstorm formed a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

alongside the golf ball sized

hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

with windspeeds of the storm reaching over .

The event

A large yellow weather warning for rain and wind in place for the

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, Devon and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, south coast and the east coast of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. In Cornwall, 4,000 properties were left without power. In Devon, 250 schools were closed. In

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, the Freshwater Beach Holiday Park at

Burton Bradstock Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately southeast of Bridport and inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The v ...

was destroyed. Other places in Dorset affected included

Loders Loders is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies north-east of the town of Bridport. It is a linear village, sited in the valley of the small River Asker, between Waddon Hill and Boarsbarrow Hill. In the 2011 ce ...

, Easton and West Bay. A caravan park at

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

in Wales was evacuated due to flooding.

Moyles Court School Moyles Court School is a private school located in Rockford, Hampshire, for children aged 2 to 16 years. Its Headmaster is Richard Milner-Smith. History The school was established in the 1940s, in Bude, North Cornwall. It was briefly moved ...

in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

was closed due to flooding. The southern coast of England and France were severely affected by the storm, with record wind gusts in France being reported around . The storm also caused flooding and huge waves. In the Netherlands, an orange weather warning was given for the coastal provinces for high winds. Events were cancelled, including at the last-minute the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships. There was disruption due to cancelled flights and trains. People were advised to work at home, and to not drive unnecessarily. The Dutch Railways adjusted the timetable with fewer trains. Twenty-one people were killed during the storm, including: a 46-year-old woman who died in Germany when a tree fell on her. A 5-year-old child and a 64-year-old woman were killed by falling trees in Belgium. A 23-year-old woman died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain. In

Venray Venray or Venraij (; li, Venroj) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as o ...

, the Netherlands, a person was killed when a tree fell on their car. On 3 November, a man was killed inside his vehicle in Albania. In France, a truck driver was killed by a falling tree, a 72-year-old man was blown off his balcony, a 43-year-old died after being swept away by a wave, while a 46-year-old technician was killed on 4 November while trying to restore electricity to homes. Eight people were killed during heavy rains in the region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, Italy, with rivers flooding and causing damage. Several roads and highways were closed amid

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s. Floods also occurred in the region of

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, with a 40-year-old man being killed after falling from the Corno d'Acquilio mountain, while a 44-year-old man was killed in

Belluno Belluno (; lld, Belum; vec, Belùn) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region ...

. Severe damage also occurred in

Campobasso Campobasso (, ; nap, label= Campobassan, Cambuàsce ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sann ...

and other areas of

Molise Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...

, as well as in

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

and the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

area; emergency measures were also taken in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. In

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, strong winds fueled fires that burned hectares of vegetation, while a man was killed in

Capoterra Capoterra ( sc, Cabuderra; ; from Latin ''Caput Terrae'', "head of the Earth") is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. At 2011 national census it had 24,017 inhabitants and is part of the Cagliari metropol ...

while battling fires, and an entire

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

burned down in

Tortolì Tortolì (; sc, Tortolì or ; la, Portus Ilii) is a town and ''comune'' in Sardinia, in the Province of Nuoro. Geography Tortolì is situated on the eastern coast of Sardinia. Its port and greatest hamlet is Arbatax, which has also an airport th ...

. The

Jersey Zoo Jersey Zoo (formerly Durrell Wildlife Park) is a zoological park established in 1959 on the island of Jersey in the English Channel by naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell (1925–1995). It is operated by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. ...

announced that one of their

Chilean flamingo The Chilean flamingo (''Phoenicopterus chilensis'') is a species of large flamingo at closely related to the American flamingo and the greater flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific. The species is listed as near threatened ...

s had been killed by the storm, but all the other animals had been accounted for. They further stated that the zoo would be closed until 6 November 2023, so any remaining debris could be cleared. In total, there were more than 1 million people without power, and in Cornwall around 4,000 properties were left without power.

Highest wind gust per country

Tornado Outbreak

Storm Ciarán spawned 9 tornadoes across Europe.

Aftermath

A day after the storm there were still problems in the Netherlands. Several

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

s and gardens were flooded, including an apartment complex in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

that has been evacuated due to flooding. The storm caused damage of more than €15 million in the Netherlands.

References