Woman killed by a falling Christmas tree in Belgium amid European storms

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A storm has brought heavy rain and strong winds across northern Europe, bringing down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast

BERLIN — A storm brought heavy rain and strong winds across northern Europe overnight and into Friday, bringing down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast. A woman in Belgium was fatally injured by a falling Christmas tree, while another tree killed a person in the Netherlands.

The 20-meter (65-foot) Christmas tree collapsed onto three people at a busy market in Oudenaarde in western Belgium late Thursday, killing a 63-year-old woman and injuring two other people. The Christmas market was immediately canceled.

A woman who was struck by a falling tree on Thursday in the eastern Dutch town of Wilp later died of her injuries, her employer said.

Pre-Christmas rail travelers in parts of Germany faced cancelations, delays and diversions. Routes affected included those from Hamburg and Hannover to Frankfurt and Munich.

National railway operator Deutsche Bahn said that falling trees damaged overhead electric wires or blocked tracks largely in northern Germany, but also in the central state of Hesse. The situation was improving on Friday afternoon.

In Hamburg, the Elbe River flooded streets around the city's fish market, with water waist-high in places. Authorities said a storm surge in the port city peaked on Friday morning, reaching 3.3 meters (10.8 feet) above mean high tide.

Streets around harbors flooded overnight in some Dutch North Sea towns including Scheveningen, the seaside suburb of The Hague.

The huge Maeslantkering storm barrier that protects Rotterdam from high sea levels automatically closed for the first time because of high water levels —