Storm Franklin, known in Germany as Storm Antonia, was an extratropical cyclone which caused immense damage throughout Western Europe. The most intense storm of the 2021–22 European windstorm season, Franklin was first noted by the United Kingdom's

Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

on 12:00 UTC on February 19. The next day, the Met Office would name it ''Franklin''. Franklin would be last noted on February 22. Franklin would be the third

windstorm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

in a week to be named by the Met Office, the first time since they started naming windstorms in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. In total, Franklin would cause around $811 million (2022 USD) in damages.

Preparations and impact

United Kingdom

In preparation for Franklin, several rail companies would delay or cancel some if their scheduled train rides. Additionally, Rotterham Central station was briefly closed due to flooding. Additionally, the Met Office issued dozens of warnings across the UK as Franklin neared the nation. Franklin would cause torrential rain throughout the UK, with recorded in Seathwaite, Cumberland. Sixty properties in Yorkshire would be flooded.

Ireland

On February 20, the Met Office would issue several "

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" wind warnings for the Irish provinces of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, expecting Franklin to bring high winds, flooding, and sleet to those provinces. When Franklin impacted the nation, more than 29 thousand people would lose power.

Germany

The German Weather Service would issue a red alert for portions of Germany due to Franklins expected impact. Franklin would primarily exacerbate the damage caused by

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

and Eunice, causing flooding throughout the nation. The German rail operator,

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

, would shut down its regional services in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

on February 20, cancelling and delaying several trips.

Elsewhere

Franklin would cause two fatalities in Normandy, France. Franklin would also cause localized flooding in Belgium and the Netherlands. Due to Franklin, the ferry between

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

was temporarily suspended.

Highest wind gust per country

References

{{reflist European windstorms