The storm that swept through the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium with winds, reaching some 126 mph (200 kph), caused floods, downed trees, damaged vehicles and halted transport services.
According to media reports, dozens have been injured, while the death toll has reached 11 people so far, with eight of them dying in Germany, including two firefighters. The deaths were mainly caused by falling trees and debris, while the firefighters died during clean-up efforts.
The disaster made Germany's Deutsche Bahn train operator cancel all long distances services, saying that power lines had been damaged by falling trees and debris had blocked railway tracks.
A number of domestic flights were canceled, while flights at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam were suspended after roof plates had been blown off the terminal building.
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One of the most dramatic cases happened at Dusseldorf airport on Thursday. A video that immediately went viral shows a Bombardier Q400 twin-engine plane that was almost spun around by strong winds during landing.
However, the highly-skilled pilots of German Eurowings airlines managed to land the aircraft.
People on social media are sharing photos and videos, showing the devastation that the storm has caused.
Waanzinnig, complete daken worden weggerukt. #storm (via @paulschram) pic.twitter.com/vHbglN4HOE
— Johan Boef (@jboef) 18 января 2018 г.
Bus waait met passagiers en al het Pekelderhoofddiep in https://t.co/9qlzrQdyyC pic.twitter.com/5mIrAvsBKX
— Dagblad v/h Noorden (@dvhn_nl) 18 января 2018 г.
#Frederike live in #Dortmund! @Kachelmannwettr pic.twitter.com/XypLZs3mKu
— Sebastian 🏒 (@Spekkar) 18 января 2018 г.
The storm, named "Friederike" in Germany, is thought to be the worst since Kyrill in 2007.
