Severe storms from the Atlantic are lashing Europe, claiming several lives.

Hundreds of thousands of homes have been left without power.

France has been worst-hit with motorists and pedestrians banned from some coastal areas as high winds and waves pummel the shore and cut off islands.

Among the areas worst hit was the Quiberon peninsula in southern Brittany - also known as the Savage Coast - where winds were expected to peak at 180 kph (110 mph) on Sunday. Damage to overhead power cables caused serious delays to rail services.

Storm damage to a church in Rennes, Brittany

The storm cut sea and air links with Ushant and Molene islands, leaving at least 600 tourists stranded and food supplies running low.

Fierce winds and rough seas across Europe have claimed several lives over the weekend.

A teenager was killed near Stuttgart in Germany when he rode his moped into a fallen tree, and Belgian coastal emergency services have been placed on standby.

Portuguese coastguards on Sunday were searching for passengers from a French yacht discovered badly damaged on a beach west of Lisbon on Saturday.

It is not clear how many people were on board the 12-metre yacht.

The body of an unidentified woman was found on a nearby beach but authorities were unable to establish whether she was from the yacht.

The search for the body of a French tourist who was washed away by a wave on Thursday from the jetty of the Portuguese port of Figueria da Foz was abandoned on Sunday morning.

And efforts to find a French sailor presumed dead after he disappeared in rough seas off the Spanish island of Majorca were also called off.

Seven-metre high waves pummel San Sebastian

On Saturday, seven-meter high waves crashed into the coast around San Sebastian in Spain. Many fishing boats were destroyed or went missing.

Severe weather in Britain and Ireland led to a similar accident - Irish coastguards abandoning a search for a Spanish sailor who fell off a trawler on Saturday morning.

On Friday, a lorry driver was crushed to death in his cab after powerful winds uprooted a tree which smashed into his truck just north of Nantes in Britanny.

Rooftops, chimneys and belltowers were sent flying and emergency services reported widespread power cuts across Brittany.

At one point, 300,000 homes were left without power after pylons were brought down by falling trees.
 

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