Storm Nils leaves 3 dead, record flooding and widespread outages in France

Storm Nils impacted parts of Western Europe on February 11 and 12, causing significant damage across multiple countries.

France bore the brunt of the storm, with 2 deaths reported, including a truck driver killed by a falling tree and a man who died after falling from a ladder in his garden. The storm left 850 000-900 000 households without power initially, with 450 000 still without electricity the following day.

Record flooding affected southwest France, particularly along the Garonne River in regions including Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, and Maine-et-Loire. Approximately 1 600 people were evacuated across Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne combined since February 14.

As of February 16, around 35 700 households in the region remained without power, while hundreds of thousands of residents experienced mobile service disruptions after over 1 400 cell towers went offline. The flooding, described as “unprecedented” by authorities, is expected to last throughout the week.

“For 30 days we have been in continuous orange or red alert somewhere on the national territory. That is 81 departments in alert simultaneously for 154 rivers, so we have exceeded all our records,” said Lucie Chadourne-Facon, director of Vigicrues.

She confirmed that soil moisture reached the highest level since records began in 1959.

The storm also dropped heavy snowfall totals of 60 to 100 cm (24 to 40 inches) by February 13 in the French Alps, with locally higher amounts in the Mont Blanc massif.

The strongest gust, 185 km/h (115 mph), was recorded at Cagnano. Gusts reached 180 km/h (112 mph) in Caixas in the Aspres area, while the Perpignan–Rivesaltes station measured 149 km/h (93 mph) on February 12, according to Meteo France.

Spain also experienced severe impacts from the storm, particularly in Catalonia, where wind gusts exceeded 140 km/h (87 mph) in parts of Barcelona province — one of the most intense wind episodes in the region in 20 years.

At Barcelona’s El Prat Airport, 30 flight operations were cancelled, and four flights were diverted due to dangerous crosswinds.

Authorities in Catalonia suspended school classes, sporting events, and some non-urgent medical services, while mobile emergency alerts urged residents to shelter indoors.

At least nine people were hospitalized, including one person in critical condition after being struck by a collapsed warehouse roof. One fatality was reported in Spain when an industrial warehouse roof collapsed on a woman.

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Reet Kaur

I’m a science journalist and researcher at The Watchers, contributing to the Epicenter edition, where I cover peer-reviewed scientific research and emerging discoveries across Earth and space sciences. With a background in astronomy and a passion for environmental science, I’ve worked in shark and coral conservation in Fiji, conducting reef and shark-behavior research, contributing to mangrove restoration, and earning PADI Open Water and Coral Reef Certifications. I bring a blend of scientific rigor and storytelling to illuminate the discoveries shaping our planet and beyond.

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