Strong winds cause damage and disruption across western Europe

France’s national weather service maintained storm warnings in the country’s north-eastern corner that borders Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg

A firefighter removes fallen trees from a road in Hamburg, Germany (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)

A quarter of a million homes in France were left without electricity and trains were halted from Normandy to the Paris region after powerful winds swept across swathes of northern France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Local media reported that four people were injured in the Dutch town of Barendrecht, on the southern edge of Rotterdam, as strong winds ripped tiles off roofs and uprooted trees in a residential neighbourhood in the early hours of Thursday.