Tue 29 Oct
Europe cleaned up
Storm leaves 30 dead

LONDON - Europe cleaned up in battered towns Monday after deadly storms and gale-force winds at the weekend swept across the continent, killing more than 30 people.

Violent gusts up to 180 kilometers (110 miles) per hour left a trail of scattered trees, smashed cars and damaged buildings from Britain to Poland. Thousands of homes without electricity were left in the dark, while Polish trains stood still after tracks were broken and covered in debris. Roads were slowly being cleared, but officials said flights were cancelled in several major European airports, including London Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Amsterdam's Schiphol hub. In Amsterdam, too, the roof of the central train station collapsed under the force of the storm. Trees turned deadly during the storms, falling on cars and striking people in their gardens.

The United Kingdom and Germany claimed the highest number of victims after a total of 10 persons lost their lives during the storm here. Britain announced a total of seven deaths, all but one from trees knocked down by winds whipped up on Sunday to nearly 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour.

Eurostar train traffic through the Channel tunnel was disrupted near the French coast late Monday after the cables short-circuited when sea salt was removed, the French rail company SNCF said. Some 15 trains from Brussels and Paris were blocked between the two cities and the entrance to the tunnel. The company could not say when traffic would be resumed.

About 100 electricians of France's state electricity company EDF were sent to England Monday to help their colleagues of London Electricity, an EDF subsidiary, carry out repairs, EDF said in a statement.

English Channel winds topped 130 kilometers an hour, contributing to a collision Sunday that damaged a British Royal Navy frigate and a P and O ferry in Britain's southern Portsmouth Harbour but caused no injuries. A stormy sea claimed the lives of three more people including two surfers, who went missing off the Dutch coast. A fourth person was feared drowned in the Westerschelde river.