A car drives through a flooded street of Saint-Germain-de-Confolens as severe flooding hits southwestern France amid storm Nils, February 12, 2026. YOHAN BONNET / AP
Three people have died in weather-related accidents in France and Spain after a storm tore through the region, officials said on Friday, February 13, ripping up trees and flooding roads and leaving many thousands without power. High winds and heavy rain forced cancellations of flights, trains and ferries on Thursday and brought chaos to roads in southern France, northern Spain and parts of Portugal.
Spanish officials said a woman died after the roof of an industrial warehouse collapsed on her, while French officials confirmed Friday that a person died after falling from a ladder in their garden, a day after a truck driver was killed when a tree smashed through his windscreen.
Around 450,000 households in southern France were without power on Friday morning, according to operator Enedis. A viaduct in Portugal partially collapsed because of flooding.
French forecasters said the storm, named Nils, was "unusually strong" and France's electricity distributor said it had mobilized around 3,000 as it battled to reconnect households to the grid. "Enedis has restored service to 50% of the 900,000 customers who were without electricity," it wrote around 6:00 am local time.
