A powerful cyclone named Priska tore through the Baltic states and neighbouring countries over the weekend, killing two people and leaving more than 550,000 households without electricity across the region.
Wind gusts exceeding 30 metres per second battered Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Belarus from Saturday into Sunday morning, bringing torrential rain and thunderstorms that flooded streets in three national capitals. Latvian meteorologists said the system was the most severe storm to hit the country since 2005 in terms of wind damage and precipitation volume.
Casualties and Power Failures
Two people died in Latvia and Lithuania, according to regional authorities, while at least two others were injured. Latvia alone reported more than 300,000 households losing power, with Lithuania adding another 200,000. Crews from both countries worked through the night to restore supply, with authorities warning that some rural areas could remain without electricity for several days.
In Poland, emergency services responded to hundreds of calls related to fallen trees, damaged rooftops and localised flooding. Belarusian state media reported significant disruption in the western Grodno region, where the storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents and damaged infrastructure.
This seems to be the most severe storm in Latvia since 2005 in terms of its combined wind and rain impact, said a spokesperson for the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre. The agency had issued red-level warnings for the entire country ahead of the storm.
Climate Link Under Scrutiny
Experts noted that the intensity of the rainfall may have been amplified by climate change, pointing to warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Baltic Sea this summer. Several climate researchers said the storm rapid intensification before landfall followed a pattern seen more frequently in recent years across northern Europe.
The Baltic states are particularly vulnerable to severe weather events because of their coastal geography and ageing power grid infrastructure, much of it inherited from the Soviet era. Latvia and Lithuania have invested in grid modernisation in recent years, but cross-border transmission capacity remains limited.
Recovery efforts are ongoing, with national guards mobilised in Latvia and Lithuania to assist with debris clearance and medical evacuations in isolated communities. The European Commission said it was monitoring the situation and stood ready to activate its civil protection mechanism if member states requested assistance.
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