OSLO, (AFP) - Wind gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) were reported at Oslo airport, while the national metereological institute said it had recorded a total of around 30,000 lightning strikes during the storm.

Thousands of homes in southern Norway were without electricity Friday and parts of the country's rail network were still out of service a day after intense thunderstorms passed through the region, local authorities said. "Outside Oslo, thousands were without electricity last night and thousands are still waiting to get it back," Aksel Tonjer, spokesman for the local power company, told the Norwegian television network NRK.

Similar power outages were reported in other southern provinces. NRK said nearly 100,000 homes were affected by power interruptions or disruptions to telephone service. Some railway lines were out of service as a result of the electricity problems or due to trees that were downed by the storm and fell on the tracks. Several houses burned down after being hit by lightning and one person was hospitalized after being hit by lightning, the daily Aftenposten said. In neighboring Sweden, two people were killed and a third seriously hurt after being struck by lightning during the storm on Thursday.