The clouds over Northern Europe have the menacing curl of a low pressure system associated with severe winter storms. This particular storm lashed the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, northern Germany, and Russia with hurricane-force winds and intense rains. According to news reports, 14 people died in the storm, many from being hit by falling trees or blowing debris. The storm brought severe floods to northern England and Scotland, submersing the English town of Carlisle entirely. Across Northern Europe, train services were halted and electricity flickered out under the onslaught of winds that gusted up to 180 kilometers per hour (112 mph). This image of the storm was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on January 9, 2005.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team.
