LONDON — A storm that raged through northwestern France overnight was hitting Britain on Thursday with heavy rainfall and winds that prompted the country’s weather agency to issue its second-highest alert level for parts of southern England.
The storm lashed France’s northwestern coast overnight, ripping out trees, unleashing severe winds — with gusts of about 120 mph registered in part of Brittany — and leaving some 1.2 million homes without power, according to the country’s energy minister.
Britain’s Coast Guard urged people to “stay away from the water’s edge,” after the U.K. Met Office, which has named the storm Ciarán, warned it could pose a “danger to life” and said winds could exceed 85 miles per hour in some coastal areas of southern England.
The worst of the storm appeared to have passed northwestern France by Thursday as warnings were lowered, after Meteo France, the country’s forecasting agency, had issued red alerts — the highest tier — for three of the country’s 101 regional government areas known as departments.
The agency said strong winds and waves continue and were gradually shifting north on Thursday.
While the storm hit France and Britain particularly hard, its southern fringe is also expected to affect Spain, Portugal and other parts of southern and central Europe.
Matthew Cappucci and Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
