BRUSSELS - Storms raged across much of Europe overnight on Wednesday, with intense rain and violent lightning causing flooding, travel delays and several injuries. Lightning struck six houses in Belgium's southwestern Hainaut province but firefighters put out the blazes before anyone was injured.

On Thursday Belgium's national rail service was experiencing delays of up to 30 minutes, following power shortages and mudslides on the tracks. In southwestern Germany, four people were injured when heavy winds knocked down trees, while power shortages caused delays at Stuttgart airport.

Egg-sized hail damaged several cars in the city of Constance, on the Swiss border, and in the southern city of Singen. The late-night storms followed a day of record heat in Germany caused by a heat wave that spread across much of Europe.

Copyright 2002 AFP / WeatherOnline