A violent storm has left some 200,000 households without power across France, including 30,000 in the Paris region, the national electricity provider said.
Winds reaching more than 87mph in northern parts of the country, with photos of destroyed cars, collapsed scaffolding and uprooted trees appearing across social media.
Some 2,000 engineers have been deployed to reconnect the energy supplies in the 49 French departments which have been placed on high alert.
Winds of up to 72mph also battered Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. Authorities said flights have been disrupted with slight delays stemming from safety precautions taken during boarding.
Nine people have been injured in weather-related incidents across France, the interior ministry said.
Four people are said to be in serious condition following accidents caused by the winds that reached speeds above 100mph in some areas.
In the Paris region, a falling tree hit a car and seriously injured one person, while another resident was badly hurt falling from a building.
In the Eure-et-Loir, a motorcyclist hit a tree that had been uprooted and fell into the road. In the east, a woman was seriously injured after she was struck on the head by an object.
First responders have made 3,250 interventions related to the weather.
Meanwhile, in Germany, zoos have been closed, roads became flooded and a train was derailed amid similarly stormy conditions.
A train came off the tracks near Luenen in western Germany when it struck a tree which had fallen on the line. No injuries were reported.
Major roads near Duisburg and Juelich in the west were also partially blocked because of toppled trees and flooding.
The zoos in Munich and Augsburg in Bavaria closed for the day and the railway leading up on Germany's tallest mountain, the Zugspitze, was also shut down because of the bad weather.