France suffers more destruction as Storm Dennis ends

The worst-hit homes were “mainly in Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Normandy”, according to an electricity network spokesperson, speaking to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) yesterday (Sunday February 16).

More than 20,000 homes are still without power this morning (Monday February 17), according to energy company Enedis.

A spokesperson told the AFP: “We are waiting for reinforcements from other regions, and we are doing what we can, but things will not go back to normal until [later on] Monday.”

Falling trees caused severe disruption (Photo: Baptiste Boisset / @BaptBoisset / Twitter)

Severe delays were reported on TGV services, especially from Montparnasse station in Paris, after a number of trees fell over train lines. The Pays de la Loire and the Centre Val de Loire were especially badly affected.

More than 700 passengers on a TGV from Nantes to Paris took 15 hours to reach the capital, after they had to be transferred onto another train overnight. Another 675-passenger TGV from Nantes to Lille and Strasbourg became stuck due to a lack of power on the rails.

But the worst of the storm is over, forecaster Météo France said. It lifted the orange wind and rain warning from Brittany and the departments of Manche and Calvados on Sunday afternoon.

It said: “The rainy episode is reaching its end. Recorded rainfall has generally been higher than 40mm in Finistère and Morbihan.”