AT LEAST THREE people have died and several are injured in central Europe after Storm Malik caused violent winds, leading to travel chaos across Europe on Sunday.

A 58-year-old man was killed in the town of Beelitz near the German capital Berlin on Saturday evening when an election poster fell on him as he walked with his partner, local media reported, citing the police.

In the neighbouring Czech Republic, a 70-year-old man was killed when the wind toppled the wall of a warehouse under construction in Velke Pritocno, west of Prague, while another man was injured in the accident.

Poland’s fire brigade reported one dead and five injured in the windstorm.

A falling tree injured a pedestrian in the northern German city of Bremen, while in the northeastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region a motorcyclist was seriously injured after colliding with an uprooted tree.

Fallen branches and trees disrupted long-distance train services on Saturday evening and Sunday in northern and eastern Germany, particularly between Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg.

Transport in the neighbouring Czech Republic and Poland was affected too.

Seventy passengers were left stranded in a motionless train from Budapest to Prague in southeastern Czech Republic without power and heating for over four hours as the wind had damaged the overhead line.

Hundreds of thousands of households in the region were hit by power outages.

Berlin’s firefighters requested residents to stay at home as strong winds lashed the city from Saturday evening.

The port city of Hamburg’s famous fish market was flooded and debris damaged several road vehicles.

UK

In Scotland, a boy and a 60-year-old woman were killed on Saturday by falling trees as strong winds battered northern parts of Britain.

Malik reached the Nordic region and northern Germany late on Saturday after moving in from Britain, where it caused damage and transport chaos, hitting Scotland particularly badly.

Wind gusts of more than 100mph were reported in parts of Scotland, causing widespread disruption to transport and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes.

– with reporting from PA
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