Storms sweep through western Europe

High waves hit the waterfront in Ver-sur-Mer village, western France Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/guardian.co.uk Fire crews clear the mess after a tree is brought down by a storm in Frankfurt Photograph: Ralph Orlowski/Reuters Photograph: Ralph Orlowski/guardian.co.uk A French gendarmerie helicopter carries an evacuee to safety in L'Aiguillon sur Mer, France Photograph: Frederic Girou/MAXPPP/EPA Photograph: Frederic Girou/MAXPPP/guardian.co.uk A coastal road is wrecked by storms near L'Aiguillon sur Mer Photograph: Frederic Girou/MAXPPP/EPA Photograph: Frederic Girou/MAXPPP/guardian.co.uk Hurricane-force winds, surging seas and driving rain beach a trawler at Saint-Martin-de-Re, western France Photograph: Xavier Leoty/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Xavier Leoty/guardian.co.uk A man walks in a flooded camping site in La Faute-sur-Mer, western France Photograph: Frank Perry/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Frank Perry/guardian.co.uk Police officers check damaged cars under a roof in Cologne Photograph: Federico Gambarini/EPA Photograph: Federico Gambarini/guardian.co.uk Fireman work on a damaged roof after a storm in the Basque city of Vitoria, northern Spain. Three people died during the storm Photograph: Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photograph: Alvaro Barrientos/guardian.co.uk A car under a fallen tree in Darmstadt, Germany Photograph: Juergen Mahnke/EPA Photograph: Juergen Mahnke/guardian.co.uk Surveying the flood damage in La Faute-sur-Mer, western France Photograph: Frank Perry/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Frank Perry/guardian.co.uk Fierce storms toppled trees in Mainz, Germany Photograph: Torsten Silz/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Torsten Silz/guardian.co.uk Men clear debris from a home in the village of Chatelaillon sur Mer, near La Rochelle, western France Photograph: Remy De La Mauviniere/AP Photograph: Remy De La Mauviniere/guardian.co.uk A boardwalk is stripped to rubble on the seafront at Les Sables d'Olonne in France Photograph: Stephane Mahe/Reuters Photograph: Stephane Mahe/guardian.co.uk A Portuguese man amuses himself trying to catch fish trapped in floods in Porto, Portugal. Heavy rain and the rising levels of the River Douro triggered floods in the medieval neighbourhood Photograph: Paulo Duarte/AP Photograph: Paulo Duarte/guardian.co.uk The roof of an apartment building hangs to the side of the house after a storm passed through Mainz, western Germany Photograph: Torsten Silz/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Torsten Silz/guardian.co.uk A stranded driver in Bunsendorf, Germany. Rain and melting snow created high water levels in many party of Bavaria Photograph: David Ebener/EPA Photograph: David Ebener/guardian.co.uk