Tail-end of Hurricane Kirk hits Europe, threatens floods in France

PARIS (Reuters) - The remnants of Hurricane Kirk churned across western Europe on Wednesday, ripping up trees in Spain and Portugal and drenching France.

French authorities warned the public of a high risk of flooding in more than 30 areas.

State weather forecaster Meteo France warned of gusts hitting 75-93 mph (120-150 kph) high in the Pyrenees mountains and up to 90 mm (3.5 inches) of rain falling in the southern Picardie and greater Paris regions, where the saturated ground meant there was a risk of flooding.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's minister of energy and green transition, told reporters that people in the storm's path should be prudent, with some rivers expected to overflow.

"We have to expect flooding," she said. "These episodes are likely to repeat themselves. Climate change is having a concrete impact on our daily lives."

The passage of Kirk, which is now classified as a storm, briefly left as many as 400,000 people in northern Portugal without electricity early on Wednesday, according to the E-Redes grid operator.

Portugal's civil-protection authority registered around 1,600 incidents since Tuesday night, mostly uprooted trees or fallen branches blocking roads.

The tail end of Kirk struck Europe as Hurricane Milton, a powerful Category 4 storm, tore towards Florida's Gulf Coast.

More than 1 million people in coastal areas were under evacuation orders, with Milton packing maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 kph) and predicted to trigger a life-threatening storm surge.

(Reporting by Jean-Michel Belot; Editing by Richard Lough and Rod Nickel)