France, Jan. 9 -- Some 380,000 households were left without electricity on Friday, grid operator Enedis said, as the storm swept across the north of the country.

Most outages were reported in Normandy, especially in the northern part of the region, where conditions were at their worst.

Authorities reported extraordinary wind speeds overnight in the north-western Manche department, with gusts reaching 216 km/h and 213 km/h - among the strongest recorded during the storm.

Across several regions, strong squalls brought down trees, including at least one that fell onto residential buildings in Seine-Maritime. No injuries had been reported so far.

Schools remained closed across northern France as weather alerts covered around 30 regions na...