Paris, February 13, 2026 – The Europe Today: A powerful storm that swept across southern France has left around 450,000 households without electricity, grid operator Enedis said Friday, a day after violent winds and heavy rain battered the region.
The storm, named Storm Nils, tore through parts of southern France on Thursday, uprooting trees, flooding roads and disrupting transportation, according to media reports. Severe weather also affected northern Spain and parts of Portugal, leading to the cancellation of flights, trains and ferry services, while causing widespread road disruption.
French authorities confirmed that a truck driver was killed after a tree smashed through his windscreen. In Spain, dozens of people were injured in weather-related incidents, while in Portugal, flooding led to the partial collapse of a viaduct.
French meteorologists described Storm Nils as “unusually strong,” underscoring the intensity of the weather system. Enedis said it had deployed around 3,000 personnel to restore electricity as quickly as possible.
By approximately 6:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday, the operator reported that power had been restored to about half of the 900,000 customers initially affected.
“Flooding complicates repairs because the fields are waterlogged and some roads are blocked,” Enedis crisis director Herve Champenois told reporters during a Thursday press briefing.
Residents across southern France expressed shock at the storm’s severity. Eugenie Ferrier, 32, who lives in the village of Roaillan near Bordeaux in southwestern France, said the night was chaotic. “You could hear tiles lifting and rubbish bins rolling down the street — it was crazy,” she said.
Forecasters indicated that the storm had moved eastward away from France by Thursday, though some areas remained under alert due to the continued risk of flooding.
