Storm Ciaran: wind and heavy swell in La Rochelle

Storm Ciaran battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km per hour, killing a lorry driver, while southern England and other parts of western Europe remained on high alert Thursday amid warnings of flooding, blackouts and major travel disruptions.

Some 1.2 million French homes lost electricity overnight as the storm lashed the northwest coast, ripping trees out of the ground.In Cornwall in southern England, large waves powered by winds of 135 km/hour, crashed along the coastline on Thursday morning, while hundreds of schools across the region were closed.