Joachim is the name given to 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 inten ...

which caused major damage in much of Western Europe between December 16–17, 2011. Winds gusting to were recorded on the summit of

Puy de Dôme Puy de Dôme (, ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Puèi Domat or ) is a lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the region of Massif Central in central France. This chain of volcanoes including numerous cinder cones, lava domes and maars is ...

in France. Joachim explosively deepened under the influence of a shortwave trough during its development.

Impact

At least 400,000 people were without power in France. In

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

, on the north-western coast of France, the cargo ship ''TK Bremen'' was blown aground. The nineteen-man crew was evacuated by helicopter, and the ship later disassembled. Major damage occurred on the Spanish coast. Roofs and trees were blown away, and all navigation on the Swiss lakes was closed. In the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

, a tree fell onto the railway line between

Tramelan Tramelan is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). History Tramelan is first mentioned in 1179 as ''Trameleins''. ...

and

Tavannes Tavannes is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking part of the canton in the Jura mountains. History The area around Tavannes was traversed by t ...

. This caused a train to derail, and its forward cars fell into the forest; three passengers suffered minor injuries. The wind was followed by polar air, and the rain turning to snow at high altitudes and descending into the plain caused serious conditions. Most of the major ski resorts in

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

were closed, as well as numerous roads and tunnels. Air traffic was affected.

Aftermath

According to Perils AG, property insurers may face costs of €300 million from the storm. TK-Bremen-1

References

{{European windstorms

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

2011 in Switzerland 2011 in France 2011 meteorology December 2011 events in Europe