Advertisement

Gales leave trail of damage across Austria

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Gales leave trail of damage across Austria
Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

Hurricane-force winds affected some regions of Austria overnight, leaving a trail of damage behind them, but thankfully no recorded injuries.

Advertisement

Heavy squalls were recorded in Upper and Lower Austria, in Vienna, Burgenland and mountainous regions.

In Wiener Neustadt, winds reached hurricane force, with gusts of more than 130 km/h, causing fallen trees and damage to roofs, according to the Wiener Neustadt Volunteer Fire Department.

At least one of the trees brought down power lines, cutting off energy to more than 75 homes.

This tree disrupted power to more than 75 homes.  Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

The capital city Vienna saw wind speeds of 126 km/h, including 101 km/h in the central city.
 
Operations at Vienna's Schwechat international airport were affected by the high winds, with reports in the Kronen Zeitung newspaper of at least one plane that had to abort its landing, and try again.
 
Another plane which arrived shortly before 6pm was unable to dock with the airbridge due to dangerous wind speeds. Passengers had to wait on board for an hour before they could disembark, while the plane was shaken by turbulence.

According to the UBIMET weather service, the stormy winds are expected to continue overnight on Monday, with expectations of gusts in some areas exceeding 100 km/h.

"From the Vienna area up into the Neunkirchen region, gale-force winds were recorded.  The highest readings were in Wiener Neustadt with 130 km/h and Vienna/Unterlaa with 126 km/h", said UBIMET meteorologist Josef Lukas.

"The strong winds will continue into the day, with gusts between 70 and 80 km/h," he added.


A plane was damaged when flipped over by strong winds at a regional airport.  Photo: Volunteer Fire Department of Wiener Neustadt

But the storm is not over yet.

"On Monday night, the winds will die down.  They will increase again on Tuesday morning, specifically in Vienna and parts of Lower Austria again with heavy squalls of up to 100 km/h expected.  In the southern Vienna Basin there is even a possibility of hurricane strength winds," warned the meteorologist.

The weather is only expected to settle again by Wednesday.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also