Published February 12, 2026
Storm Nils is battering Southern Europe, leaving a trail of damage and multiple injuries across the region.
More than 80 people have received emergency medical care and nearly a dozen have been hospitalized after the storm slammed into Catalonia in northeastern Spain, according to reports from El Pais. Schools have been closed and approximately 100 flights have been canceled at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport.
Tragically, a truck driver died in southwestern France when a tree branch crashed through his windshield. Rivers have overflowed their banks, and hundreds of thousands of homes in France were left without power, Le Monde reported.
Portugal has also been impacted by the storm, which bears a Scandinavian name. A highway overpass partially collapsed between Lisbon and Porto, according to the French news agency AFP.
As of Thursday evening, the storm continued eastward, bringing strong winds to the island of Corsica, west of Italy. The severe weather highlights the increasing vulnerability of Southern European infrastructure to extreme weather events.
