Overview
Storm Austen, the first named storm of the 2026-2027 European windstorm season, swept across southern Britain and northern France on Friday, Oct. 23. It brought gusts of up to 100 mph and cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers.
The U.K. Met Office named the storm on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the first name on this season's list for the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands. The low crossed southern Britain and northern France on Friday and reached the Low Countries by late morning, with a central pressure of around 974 hectopascals.
Strongest winds hit Brittany and southwest England
The strongest gusts struck the coast of Brittany. Gusts reached 100 mph at Pointe du Raz in Finistère and 93 mph on Île de Groix. Météo-France placed more than 20 departments under orange warnings.
In the U.K., the Met Office issued an amber wind warning for Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of west Devon, with yellow warnings across much of England and Wales. Gusts reached 76 mph at St. Mary's Airport in the Isles of Scilly, 74 mph at Aberporth in Wales and 71 mph at Culdrose in Cornwall.
Heavy rain also brought flooding to parts of England, including roads in north Staffordshire, and the Environment Agency issued flood warnings across several regions.
Widespread power outages and travel disruption
France saw the largest impacts. More than 280,000 customers lost power in the northwest of the country. Three Normandy bridges closed, and rail services were disrupted.
In the U.K., more than 9,000 homes lost power in Cornwall and Devon, and some flights and trains were canceled. Schools closed in parts of the southwest, and fallen trees blocked roads across Cornwall. In Brighton, part of the already derelict West Pier collapsed into the sea.
In Ireland, about 3,000 customers lost power, and fallen trees were reported in Waterford and Cork.
"Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, has brought damaging gusts and widespread power cuts to north-west France and south-west England. We expect property damage to be relatively modest, spread across smaller claims, rather than catastrophic. Windstorms remain a risk, however, and have historically caused very large losses. The impact of Austen will become clearer in the coming days. With Storm Boelo also arriving on Saturday, further claims are expected over the weekend. Cotality will continue to monitor both storms," said Mark Dixon, senior weather scientist at Cotality.
Storm Boelo follows this weekend
A second storm is already on the way. Storm Boelo is forecast to bring strong winds to the north of the U.K. and Ireland this weekend.
The Met Office has issued an amber wind warning for much of Scotland, Northumberland, Cumbria and parts of Northern Ireland from 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, to 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25. Forecast gusts are 60 to 70 mph, and up to 80 mph on exposed coasts. Met Éireann has issued orange wind warnings for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo from 2 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday.
What this means for insurers
Austen's damage so far points to a typical early-season windstorm: fallen trees, roof and fence damage, and widespread outages rather than large-scale structural losses. The heaviest concentration of claims is likely to be in Brittany and Normandy, where the strongest gusts and most outages occurred.
Cotality continues to monitor damage reports and will provide updates on the impact of Storm Austen when available.
