Cyclone Lothar

Cyclone Lothar is regarded as the worst European windstorm recorded during the 20th century. Crossing France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany between 25 December and 27 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar's average winds reached up to 115 km/h inland (Orly), but with gusts exceeding 150 km/h, almost equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane, resulting in 110 deaths (including 88 in France alone) and more than €15 billion in damage, becoming the costliest European windstorm ever recorded.

Lothar moved at 100 km/h along an axis from Brittany (about 4 am) to Lorraine (about 9 am) to Alsace (11 am) with a front 150 km wide. It was the second of a series of devastating European windstorms which made landfall in December 1999, occurring around three weeks after Cyclone Anatol, which caused severe damage in Denmark and nearby parts of Sweden and Germany. The day after Lothar moved over western Europe, another intense European windstorm, Cyclone Martin, caused severe damage to the south of Lothar's track.