BODY SLAMMED Deadly 126mph storms wreak havoc in Europe with shocking video showing people sent flying down Dutch street

BODY SLAMMED Deadly 126mph storms wreak havoc in Europe with shocking video showing people sent flying down Dutch street

Gales lashed Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and parts of the UK, uprooting power lines and trees, and killing at least eight people

By Jon Lockett

18th January 2018, 9:52 pmUpdated: 19th January 2018, 11:53 am


THIS is the terrifying moment locals were literally blown away as killer storms tore through north-west Europe today.
A man and woman are seen being sent flying through the streets of Den Bosch, in southern Holland, as gales topping 126mph left at least eight people dead.

11
The shocking moment pedestrians are blown down the street in Holland

11
The pair were sent tumbling by extreme winds in Holland
The storms toppled trees, flipped trucks, grounded aircraft and halted road and rail traffic across Holland Belgium and Germany.
More than 260 flights were cancelled as winds of up to 90mph prompted the Dutch weather service to issue a nationwide red alert, the highest alarm level.
In Rotterdam, dozens of shipping containers were toppled and roofs ripped off homes.
Europe’s busiest cargo port was “virtually unreachable from the north” because of traffic holdups on three of the main motorways into the city.

AP:Associated Press
11
The storm speeds finally topped out at more than 125mph- leaving several dead

EPA
11
Fallen trees as a hurricane-force storm blows gale-winds up to force 12 in The Hague, Holland

AP:Associated Press
11
A farm building collapsed during a heavy storm in Meimbressen, central Germany

AFP
11
Snow caused chaos on the roads in the municipality of Langen Bruetz, in northern Germany
Germany halted all long-distance rail traffic for at least a day, while numerous domestic flights were scrapped as hurricane-force winds lashed the country.
The storm claimed five lives in Germany, including two firefighters rescuing two truck drivers trapped after their vehicles were blown over by the gales.
A 59-year-old camper was killed instantly when a tree fell on him in North Rhine-Westphalia state, German police said, as wind speeds attained a high of 126 mph at the Brocken -- the highest peak of northern Germany.
In the Bavarian alps, the strong gales forced the cancellation of a ski world championship qualifier at Oberstdorf.

AP:Associated Press
11
Firefighters remove trees which fell onto a high-speed train near Hannover, Germany

AP:Associated Press
11
The driver of this hatchback was seriously injured by falling trees in Moers, Germany
It is the worst storm to strike Germany since 2007, according to the country's national weather service.
In Holland, which had borne the brunt of the severe winter storms earlier Thursday, two people were crushed by falling trees as bitter winds barrelled off the North Sea.
As the national weather service raised its warning to the highest code red level, a 62-year-old man was killed in the central Dutch town of Olst by a falling branch when he got out of his truck to remove debris blocking the road.
A second Dutchman, also 62, was killed in eastern Enschede when a tree toppled onto his car.

AP:Associated Press
11
A multiple truck crash on the A71 motorway near Erfurt, central Germany was caused by the storms

Getty - Contributor
11
Several people were killed when trees fell onto their cars

Alamy Live News
11
The area around Cologne Cathedral was sealed off over fears of falling masonry
In neighbouring Belgium, a woman driver died when her car was crushed by a tree as she was travelling through a wood in the Grez-Doiceau area, about 35 kilometres south of Brussels.
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of the continent's busiest travel hubs, was forced to briefly cancel all flights as winds gusted up to 140 kilometres an hour in some areas.
Thalys, the high-speed train operator, suspended services to the Netherlands and Germany.
Traffic is expected to resume only very gradually, said a German rail spokesman.
Dutch insurers warned that the bill for Thursday's storm damage could top 10 million euros.
Four people were injured in Antwerp, including one woman who was seriously hurt after being hit in the head by flying metal debris, the Belgian news agency Belga said.
Elsewhere in Europe, Tyrol state in western Austria said part of the Westbahn train line linking Vienna, Linz and Salzburg was closed on Thursday morning because of avalanche risk, national railways company OeBB said.
"We don't want to take any risks," OeBB spokesman Christoph Gasser-Mair said.
Parts of the UK were hit by winds of of up to 70mph and thousands of homes in south-east England were without electricity.
Overhead power lines supplying trains were damaged and trees brought crashing on to tracks, causing severe delays for thousands of commuters.