By Dominique Vidalon, Sarah Young and Miranda Murray
PARIS/LONDON/BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Thousands of homes were blacked out, aircraft were grounded and train services disrupted as Storm Goretti hurled gale-force winds and heavy snow at northern Europe on Friday, compounding a week of freezing weather.
The storm slammed into Britain on Thursday before moving eastward into continental Europe. In snowbound Germany, the state railway called it one of the most severe weather events in recent years.
Around 380,000 households lost electricity in France, mainly in Normandy and Brittany, although by midday about 60,000 had been reconnected, and 60,000 homes in Scotland and central England suffered the same fate.
FLIGHTS CANCELLED
In the Netherlands, flights were cancelled as heavy snowfall was set to return after a one-day lull.
Winds of more than 150 kph (93 mph) were recorded overnight in France’s northwestern Manche region, with a record 213 kph in Barfleur, forcing the SNCF rail operator to suspend services between Paris and Normandy.
The French state energy company EDF said Storm Goretti had required two reactors to be taken offline at the Flamanville power station after a high-voltage line was disrupted, while roofs were torn off and trees uprooted. Wholesale power prices rose across Western Europe.
In the English West Midlands, some rail services were suspended as thick snow blanketed the region, and residents were advised to stay home if possible.
"It's been quite a few years ... you get a bit of this (snow) and everything seems to stop," said Wolverhampton resident David Goldstone, 86.
Pedestrians struggled with shopping trolleys and mounds of slush.
"We're just not used to it, are we?" said another local, Tracy Wilks, 53.
FREEZING WEATHER GROUNDS FLIGHTS
In northern Germany, state-owned Deutsche Bahn halted long-distance train services until further notice, citing one of the most severe winter weather events in many years.
"So far, we have been able to avoid situations where passengers are left stranded on the open track for long periods," a spokesperson told reporters at Berlin’s central station, adding that crews were working to clear the tracks.
At Hamburg Airport, northern Germany's busiest air terminal, about 40 flights were cancelled, while a Bundesliga soccer fixture between Hamburg's St Pauli and RB Leipzig scheduled for Saturday was postponed. German carmaker Volkswagen closed its Wolfsburg plant early on Friday, while a second in Emden remained closed.
The Dutch airline KLM said it had cancelled 80 flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Friday. Schiphol had already cancelled hundreds of flights earlier this week because of freezing weather.
In Hungary, the military was called out to assist motorists trapped in heavy snow.
Western Balkan countries have seen widespread disruption since Sunday. On Thursday, one person was found dead in Albania, which has been hit by extensive flooding, while gales ripped off roofs in northeast Turkey.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Sarah Young in London; Miranda Murray and Klaus Lauer in Berlin, Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam and Anita Komuves in Budapest; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Alex Richardson and Kevin Liffey)
