The storm Ciaranwhich has hit Europe since Thursday, has caused the death of at least 12 people, including a 5-year-old Ukrainian boy in Belgium, and has caused major transport disruptions, with ports closed and flights cancelled.
The storm, which moved east after hitting the Atlantic coast, claimed five lives in Tuscanyin north-central Italy, where it caused record rains, as announced by local authorities.
The governor of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, indicated on Facebook that the human toll of the rainfall that transformed the streets of many towns into torrents of water and mud in just a few hours “unfortunately it increased to five fatalities”.
A first report spoke of three deaths, two of them in the municipality of Montemurlo, where an 85-year-old man was found drowned in his home and an 84-year-old woman died from discomfort linked to rising waters. A third person died in Rosignano, according to Italian media.
Falling trees caused by violent gusts of wind were the cause of most fatal accidents: two victims in Belgium, two in France, one in the center of Madrid, one in Germany and a seventh in the Netherlands.