The expected Storm Ciarán has arrived in Belgium and while the largest impact is expected at the coast, it is also causing disruption elsewhere in the country.
Earlier this week, the Royal Meteorological Institute issued code yellow across the country for Thursday as the eye of the storm shifted towards Belgium.
On Wednesday, it issued code orange for West Flanders, where winds are expected to reach around 100 km/h. The RMI later also issued an orange alert for the provinces of Hainaut and East Flanders.
The first death in Belgium as a result of the storm was confirmed on Thursday afternoon. A tree fell on two walkers in the Citadel Park in Ghent city centre, resulting in one of the victims dying. The other suffered a broken leg.
Later in the day, a five-year-old child died as a result of the storm, also in Ghent. The accident occurred during playground activities on the Henri Storyplein, when a broken-off branch hit two children. The second child was injured.
Traffic and train disruptions
The Vlaams Verkeerscentrum (Flemish Traffic Centre) has already received reports of snapped branches and trees on motorways from all over Flanders. It is asking drivers to adjust their driving style because of the fierce gusts of wind.
A blown-away trampoline landed briefly on the E40 exit in Wetteren. The emergency services are also receiving many reports of inconvenience due to loosened branches and fallen trees on regional roads.
A tree partly fell on the road R24 in Nivelles. Credit: Belga
In some places, traffic lights have been twisted by the wind, so they are no longer hanging in the right direction.
As a precaution, railway infrastructure manager Infrabel and railway operator SNCB took various measures such as cancelling trains between Bruges and the Belgian coast.
Later on Wednesday, Infrabel confirmed that almost no peak-hour trains would run and six IC (inter-city) connections would also be cancelled; 20 other IC connections have been altered. No trains are running between Belgium and France either.
The cancellations apply to the following IC connections: Ostend - Ghent-Sint-Pieters - Antwerp-Central, Kortrijk - Brussels - Schaerbeek, Antwerp-Central - Lier - Hasselt, Brussels-Midi - Namur - Liège-Sint-Lambertus, Tournai - Lille Flandres (FR), and Antwerp-Central - Mechelen - Brussels-Midi.
Most S and L trains will run, however, as the entire Belgian rail network is also subject to a speed limit of 80 km/h, serious disruption to train traffic and delays are expected. Some trains will not run, while others will have a modified route or modified departure times.
Credit: Belga
Train traffic is facing further problems due to falling trees on the railway tracks in several places. SNCB advises travellers to plan their journey just before departure via the journey planner on its website or in the app.
Eurostar has cancelled four trains between mainland Europe and London: the 11:09 from Paris; the 13:01 from London to Brussels; the 13:31 from London to Paris; and the 17:56 from Brussels.
The stormy weather is also causing disruption to De Lijn services in several places in Flanders, as fallen trees resulted in services being diverted and some stops not being made.
Cancelled flights
There are delays at Brussels Airport because only one runway is in use for departing and arriving aircraft. Normally, Brussels Airport uses a separate runway for landing and take-off, but due to strong winds, only one runway is being used until 18:00.
As a result, only 20 aircraft movements per hour are possible, resulting in delays of around 10 to 15 minutes or more for both departing and arriving aircraft.
If winds increase in the afternoon, the stairs can also not be used to board or disembark the plane. The passenger bridge, which connects the planes to the airport, can be used.
Several flights to Brussels Airport are also being diverted, while departures of flights to Malaga and Nador from Antwerp Airport will take place in Brussels and an arriving flight from Alicante will also land in Brussels.
Ostend airport is also diverting arriving and departing flights to Brussels, while smaller aircraft were placed inside the airport.
Brussels Airport. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
Dutch airline KLM confirmed it is cancelling all arriving and departing flights from midday on Thursday due to Storm Ciarán.
"Due to the expected weather conditions at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Thursday 2 November, flights have been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience," it noted.
Affected passengers will be rebooked to other flights or get their money back. The measure applies from early afternoon until the end of the day. Travellers have been asked to stay updated about the latest developments via the company's website.
The United Kingdom's busiest airport Heathrow is also seeing many cancellations. British Airways has grounded 30 domestic and European flights. In France, several airports have warned that delays are expected due to the storm.
Impact so far
In Belgium, the impact so far has been relatively limited. In Sint-Lievens-Houtem to the northwest of Brussels, a tree fell on the overhead line and Infrabel's technical teams had to intervene. The tree was removed at 07:00 on Thursday morning.
The Brussels Fire Brigade reported that it already received around 600 calls regarding storm damage. "Fortunately, so far there have been no major disasters or injuries," spokesperson Walter Derieuw said. "We are now quickly approaching 600 interventions, while on a normal 24-hour day, approximately 350 are carried out."
Around 17:00, 85 interventions were completed, 15 were ongoing and approximately 180 were still on the waiting list, Derieuw said. In the meantime, the fire brigade's non-storm-related daily services to citizens are also being handled.
Related News
- Storm Ciarán: Belgian parks closed from Wednesday, code orange in Flanders
- Storm Ciarán will 'severely' disrupt travel in and around Belgium
In the capital, access to some regional green spaces is once again permitted. The parks, nature reserves and woods managed by the Brussels-Capital Region were closed on Wednesday evening in anticipation of the arrival of storm Ciarán.
Around 17:30, the RMI announced that the worst of the storm had passed, even though some gusts of wind of 70-90 km/h inland and around 90 km/h at sea are still expected. During the night, the wind is expected to decrease further to 4 to 5 Bft inland and 5 Bft at sea. "We remain in very changeable weather with a code yellow for rain for the coast. A total of 25 mm may fall."
From Friday morning, certain parks will be partially reopened, with the exception of the Duden Park in Forest, the Wilder wood in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, the Nestor Martin poplar grove in Ganshoren, the Bon Pasteur Park in Evere, the Kattenberg in Laeken, the Kauwberg in Uccle and the Woluwe park in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.
This article is being updated throughout the day on Thursday 2 November to include the latest developments.
