Martin was a violent European windstorm

European windstorm

A European windstorm is a severe cyclonic windstorm associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe. They are most common in the winter months...

 which crossed southern Europe (France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

) on 27–28 December 1999, one day after another powerful storm, Lothar

Lothar (storm)

Lothar is the name of a low-pressure system that resulted in a violent extratropical cyclone sweeping across Central Europe on December 26, 1999, causing major damage in France, southern Germany, and Switzerland. Wind speeds reached around 150 km/h in lower areas and more than 250 km/h on...

.

Wind speeds reached around 200 km/h in French département of Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime

Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 (198 km/h in Oleron island

Oléron

Île d'Oléron is an island off the Atlantic coast of France , on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....

 and 194 km/h in Royan

Royan

Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...

), sustained winds of over 140 km/h were observed in Gironde

Gironde

For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...

 (Cap Ferret

Cap Ferret

Cap Ferret is a headland, situated at the south end of the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the French department of Gironde. The headland takes the form of a spit, which separates the Atlantic Ocean from Arcachon Bay...

, 173 km/h), Vendée

Vendée

The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...

 (Île d'Yeu

Île d'Yeu

Île d'Yeu is an island and commune just off the Vendée coast of western France.The island's two harbours, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule, located in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are famous for the fishing of tuna and lobster....

, 162 km/h) Haute-Vienne

Haute-Vienne

Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...

 (Limoges

Limoges

Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

, 148 km/h) and Haute-Garonne

Haute-Garonne

Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...

 (Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

, 141 km/h). The storm caused 30 fatalities. Building and infrastructures suffered major damage, and mains power and safety systems were knocked out due to flooding at the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant

1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood

The 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood was a flood that took place on the evening of December 27, 1999. It was caused when a combination of the tide and high winds led to the sea walls of the Blayais Nuclear Power Plant in France being overwhelmed...

, resulting in a 'level 2' event on the International Nuclear Event Scale

International Nuclear Event Scale

The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency in order to enable prompt communication of safety significance information in case of nuclear accidents....

.

Highest winds

Country	Place	Speed
France	Saint-Denis-d'Oléron Saint-Denis-d'Oléron Saint-Denis-d'Oléron is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...  (17)	198 km/h
	Royan Royan Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...  (17)	194 km/h
	Cap Ferret Cap Ferret Cap Ferret is a headland, situated at the south end of the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret in the French department of Gironde. The headland takes the form of a spit, which separates the Atlantic Ocean from Arcachon Bay...  (33)	173 km/h
	Île d'Yeu Île d'Yeu Île d'Yeu is an island and commune just off the Vendée coast of western France.The island's two harbours, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule, located in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are famous for the fishing of tuna and lobster....  (85)	162 km/h
	Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...  (62)	159 km/h
	La Rochelle La Rochelle La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...  (17)	151 km/h
	Limoges Limoges Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....  (87)	148 km/h
	Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...  (33)	144 km/h
	Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...  (31)	141 km/h

See also

• Lothar (storm)
  Lothar (storm)
  Lothar is the name of a low-pressure system that resulted in a violent extratropical cyclone sweeping across Central Europe on December 26, 1999, causing major damage in France, southern Germany, and Switzerland. Wind speeds reached around 150 km/h in lower areas and more than 250 km/h on...
  
  
• Klaus (storm)
• Xynthia (storm)
  Xynthia (storm)
  Xynthia was a violent European windstorm which crossed Western Europe between 27 February and 1 March 2010. It reached a minimum pressure of 967 mb on 27 February. In France—where it was described by the civil defence as the most violent since Lothar and Martin in December 1999—at least 51 people...
  
  
• European windstorm
  European windstorm
  A European windstorm is a severe cyclonic windstorm associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe. They are most common in the winter months...
  
  

External links

Les tempêtes en France