Two Dead In Storm

December 6, 2013 by staff

Two Dead In Storm, A 777 flight from Dubai had to be re-routed to Gatwick after an aborted landing attempt in Birmingham. A Dash propeller-driven passenger also had to abort its touchdown.

And passengers on an easyJet flight from London to Glasgow wound up landing in Manchester after aborted attempts to land in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

As the plane neared Scotland, “suddenly everything started shaking and bumping, we were going up and down, up and down,” said passenger Hazel Bedford.

“An awful lot of people were being sick but the plane, it was incredibly quiet. When cabin crew said ‘We’re going to Manchester,’ people started to realize this was serious,” she said.

This Boeing 777 was blown about then had to abort its landing as it neared Birmingham.

Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed in the Netherlands, Germany and Scotland, while rail services were shut down in several countries and one of Europe’s longest bridges – connecting Sweden to Denmark – was to close.

The storm has so far resulted in two deaths. An accident west of Edinburgh claimed the life a truck driver and a falling tree killed a man in Nottinghamshire.

Authorities have evacuated residents and boosted flood defences in low-lying areas across the region.

Tens of thousands of homes were also left without power as Storm Xaver tore through the area.

Two sailors were reportedly swept overboard from a ship 23 kilometres off the southern Swedish coast on Thursday, but air-sea rescue services failed to find them.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had convened a meeting of the government’s emergency committee to ensure necessary measures were being taken.

A police car patrols the seafront promenade covered in foam and sea spray in Blackpool, north west England, as record high winds hit the north of England and Scotland. Picture: AFP

The biggest fear across Europe was from a storm surge set to hit later on Thursday which will coincide with high tides in many areas.

British authorities said they had evacuated homes in Great Yarmouth, eastern England, and warned that people’s lives could be at risk.

They said it could be the biggest storm surge for 60 years.

In the Netherlands, where 27 per cent of the country lies below sea-level, the landmark Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier has been closed off for the first time in six years.

The barrier was built after a storm in 1953 killed almost 2000 people.

Dutch authorities said they had issued the highest possible flood warning for four areas in the north and northwest of the country.