In Switzerland eight people were injured when strong winds blew a train carriage off the rails on Wednesday. The accident happened near Lenk on the Montreux Oberland Bernois regional service at around midday.

A police spokesman said seven people with slight injuries were taken to hospital in ambulances while the eighth was flown by helicopter.

Strong gales affected most of the country during the storm with gusts reaching almost two hundred kilometres an hour near Lucerne, the highest there since records began in 1981.

The Swiss weather service issued strong gale warnings for much of the country. Many roads were closed, passenger ferry traffic was halted in some areas and several air flights were cancelled./Euronews