Record rising water levels have been recorded in many cities since Friday. Thousands of people had to be evacuated and several thousand others remained without power.
Storm Babet, which hit northern Europe on Friday 20 October and Saturday 21 October, caused severe flooding in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. Starting on Friday, the storm hit Scotland hard, causing the deaths of three people, including two in the north-east of the country. More than 300 flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency in England since Thursday. In an interview with BBC One, Labor MP Toby Perkins said around 400 homes in his Chesterfield constituency in central England had been flooded and many people now had “no idea where to live”.
The storm also hit the coasts of northern Germany on Friday evening, raging throughout the night and causing the death of a woman in her car who was killed by a falling tree, the German fire department said. According to the emergency services of the state of Schleswig-Holstein (North), strong winds and rain caused the water level to rise, which led to flooding and the evacuation of around 2,000 people. The highest water level was recorded around midnight on Friday, almost 2.30 meters above normal, a level not seen in almost 120 years.
In Denmark, Storm Babet triggered a sharp rise in water levels in cities in the south of the country, flooding the ground floors of houses without power for several hours. In cities like Sønderborg, Hesnæs or Fåborg, the water level has exceeded its normal value by more than 2 meters, according to the Danish weather service DMI, a value that is normally only reached every 100 years. The south of Sweden was also affected. Strong winds and rising water levels that were 1.50 meters above normal caused many trees to fall, blocked roads and cut off power to around 2,000 households in the Skåne region, Swedish radio P4 reports.
A sailor secures a boat as waves hit the shore in Hesnaes harbor near Horbelev, Denmark, October 20, 2023. (INGRID RIIS / RITZAU SCANPIX / AFP)
Emergency services clear fallen trees that have fallen on a car and block a road outside Lund, southern Sweden, October 20, 2023. (JOHAN NILSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
Residents cross a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany, October 20, 2023. (AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP)
An elderly person is evacuated from a flooded road in Brechin, northeast Scotland, by a coastguard team on October 20, 2023. (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP)
Waves crash against the shore in the harbor of Allinge on the north coast of the island of Bornholm in Denmark, October 20, 2023. (PELLE RINK / RITZAU SCANPIX / AFP)
A surfer watches the waves near Hallviken, Sweden, as the region is hit by storm Babet on October 20, 2023. (JOHAN NILSSON/TT / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
Waves crash into the harbor at Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland (UK), October 19, 2023. (ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)
A couple and their dog are rescued by a coastguard team from a flooded road in Brechin, northeast Scotland, on October 20, 2023, as Storm Babet hits the country. (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP)
Foam covers the coastal walkways in Hartlepool, County Durham, northeast England, during Storm Babet, October 20, 2023. (MI NEWS / NURPHOTO / AFP)