Fatal storms hit Germany and Austria

• 3 hours ago 

Pedestrians in Munich were blown to the ground by the force of the winds

Four people have been killed in gales that have battered Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and the UK.

Three people were killed in Germany, including two men whose car was hit by a tree. Rail services were disrupted and the main station in Munich had to be evacuated.

In Austria, a man fell from a ladder and suffered fatal head injuries while securing an awning over his patio.

Roads in the Netherlands were littered with lorries toppled by high winds.

A man in Birmingham, UK, was seriously injured when his car was crushed by a falling tree.

Forecasters said that on Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, winds of more than 190km/h (118 mph) were recorded.

The biggest winds in the Netherlands were put at 120km/h (75mph) by weather site Weeronline.

A driver was badly injured when his car was hit by a falling tree in Birmingham

Lorries were blown over on major routes both here in the Netherlands and across Germany

As the storm, dubbed Niklas, swept from the west across Germany, regional rail services came to a halt in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, while many Germans were trying to get away ahead of the Easter holiday period.

The worst single incident was at Montabaur, where two road maintenance workers were killed by a falling tee

A man was killed when a concrete wall fell on top of him in the eastern town of Gross Santersleben, police said.

Flights were disrupted at airports in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.

Munich's central station was closed because of falling glass panels dislodged by the gales

Falling trees blocked roads in Austria, including here at Michaelbeuern, near Salzburg