Cyclone Emma was an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

that passed through several mainly

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

an countries, on Saturday 1 March 2008, killing at least twelve people in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Wind speeds reached up to in Austria and the Czech Republic. Major infrastructure disruptions and some injuries were also reported in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. A

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

jet almost crashed attempting to land in crosswinds at Hamburg.

Meteorological context

On 28 February 2008, a low-pressure area formed near

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. The pressure in its center was around at the time of formation. Within a few hours, the depression had strengthened a lot, and had deepened to near the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

. On the evening of 29 February, the

warm front Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to: * A somewhat high temperature; heat * Kindness Music Albums * ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969 * ''Warm'' (Jeff Tweedy album), 2018 * ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song * ''Warm'' ( ...

reaches the German coast, causing great amounts of rain. It is followed around midnight by a

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

, which was shortly followed by violent winds.

Progression of the storm

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

are the first hit by the storm. It makes landfall on the evening of 29 February, followed by violent gusts of wind reaching a maximum of . In a number of German regions, these gusts push the authorities to stop the railway and car traffics. At the same time, the air traffic of the

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...

is greatly disturbed. On the seaside, the dam of the Hollandsche Ijssel is claused by precaution. In

, firemen carry out a hundred interventions throughout the night, mainly due to trees being brought down by the wind. The gusts quickly move towards

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, causing a power outage for nearly 150,000 people. In the wake of the storm, the material damage is of considerable importance, with among other damages, trees were brought down, urban infrastructure and transport is damaged, and the power outage, which makes the authorities expect the financial toll of the storm to go up to "tens of millions euro in damage". 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 ...

, more than a million cube meters of

windthrow In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (botany), bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap. Causes Windthrow is common in all forested ...

are reported to have been caused by the storm. Aside from this, Germany is also the country that suffered the highest death toll, with 6 left dead. On the morning of 1 March, as the storm is moving to the south-east, gusts cause two accidents. A tree falls on the

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

. Shortly after, an

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

of the

nearly crashes on the runway of the airport of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. As the gusts destabilize the plane, the pilot barely manages to land. In

, the region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

is affected by the storm too. In the commune of Pfastatt, part of the roof of a supermarket is torn away, leading to a preventive evacuation. In

, the storm pushes the government to cut access to several roads and motorways. Important damage is reported in a number of locations, while winds reaching are measured in the Austrian Alps. In

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, winds reaching . In the latter, a crane falls down on the ''Südbahnhof'' and nearly 10,000 homes suffer from a power outage. In

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

, where the winds reach and sometimes go over , several people are wounded. The A1 and A3 motorways are temporarily closed to traffic due to trees brought down on the roadways. Poland is also affected by the storm. A train linking

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

is cancelled due to security concerns, while important material damage and the death of two people are reported. Thousands of homes are also the victims of a power outage. In the

, the region of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

is swept with winds reaching . In the capital city, the roof of a building is torn out, leading to the evacuation of forty residents. A power outage caused by damaged power lines affects 920,000 homes, which represents around 10% of the Czech population, and the railway traffic is heavily disturbed. The total cost of the storm in the country is estimated to be of several hundreds of million Czech crowns by the largest Czech assurance company, ''Ceska Pojistovna''. Two people are killed by the storm. As the storm came to a close, floods caused by heavy rain affect several affected areas, like

Death toll

*In

, five people died in traffic accidents caused by the weather conditions, while a sixth was crushed by a tree. *In

, two people fell victim to falling trees, while a third was swept away by a landslide. Shortly after, a man died in his caravan when it was swept away by the wind. *In

, two people died in traffic accidents caused by fallen trees and other fragments. *In the

, an 11-year-old girl was crushed by a tree in Líbeznice, while a man in his eighties died after being hit by a corrugated plate torn out by the storm.

References

External links

List of European weather systems from the Free University of Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emma (Windstorm) 2008 natural disasters 2008 in Europe Emma 2008 meteorology Emma Emma Emma Emma Emma Emma Emma Emma 2008 in Austria 2008 in Germany 2008 in Poland 2008 in the Czech Republic 2008 in Belgium 2008 in France 2008 in Switzerland 2008 in the Netherlands February 2008 in Europe

Meteorological context

Progression of the storm

Death toll

See also

References

External links