In Spain and southern France, 15 people died, including four children, as a result of incidents caused by a gale.
Children died as a result of the collapse of the roof of a sports complex near Barcelona, caused by a hurricane wind.
According to experts, in places wind gusts reach 172 km / h. Local authorities in the affected regions are urging people not to leave home.
In the southwestern part of France, more than one and a half million homes were left without electricity, roads and airports were closed.
In general, a storm erupted in the territory from the Channel Islands in the English Channel to Barcelona in Spain, but the strongest winds and rains hit the south-west of France.
The French meteorological services warned of a coming hurricane, but the area of its distribution turned out to be much larger than expected – from Dordogne to the Pyrenees. In nine departments of France, increased readiness due to bad weather has been announced.
According to weather forecasters, before collapsing on the coasts of France and Spain last night, stormy waves swept across the Atlantic.
Promotion east
Moving east, a gale and heavy rain caused flooding in some areas where rescue services were operating to the limit.
Closed airports are Bordeaux, Pau, Biarritz, Toulouse.
In some directions, the railway connection was interrupted. Several hundred passengers were forced to spend the night at the train stations.
The collapse of the roof of the sports complex occurred in the town of San Boy De Llobregat near Barcelona.
“Part of the building collapsed, at that moment from 20 to 30 teenagers were inside. We know that several people were killed and 16 people were injured,” a representative of local authorities told France-Presse correspondent.
On Sunday, meteorologists believe that the hurricane will continue to move east, which can lead to prolonged rainfall, strong gusts of wind and further floods and destruction.
The most powerful hurricane
According to weather forecaster BBC Liam Dutton, in the next 12-18 hours, the hurricane will lose its strength a little, but some areas of southeast France are still under threat as the wind moves towards the Rhone Valley.
Hundreds of electricians are trying to restore power. But some roads were blocked due to trees felled by the wind, and this makes work difficult.
“The number of people left without electricity is growing every minute as the hurricane moves eastward,” said Michel Franconi, head of the local branch of the energy company ERDF, on local radio.
The current hurricane is the most powerful in France since December 1999, when 88 people died and about four million households were left without electricity.
This post is also available in:
English 
Русский (Russian)
