A record-breaking summer storm that hit the Netherlands and Germany, leaving two people dead, has caused as much as €100 million in damage, according to Dutch insurers.
Storm Poly packed winds of up to 146km/hr, toppling trees and forcing the cancellation of 400 flights from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs.
The Dutch Association of Insurers said that, according to initial estimates, "damage to homes, cars and commercial buildings due to storm Poly amounts to 50 to 100 million euros."
"Poly has wreaked havoc and the impact is major," association director Richard Weurding added in a statement.
He stressed the figure was an initial assessment based on historical data, adding "it can still increase."
Meteorologists said the storm was the strongest on record to hit the Netherlands in the summer months and issued a rare "code red" warning for millions of people in the low-lying nation to stay indoors.
A 51-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her car in the Dutch city of Haarlem, authorities said.
A 64-year-old woman died after being struck by a falling tree in the German town of Rhede near the Dutch border.
Two men were seriously injured in Amsterdam, one when a tree fell on his car, while a second is believed to have been hit by falling power lines, local media said.
A tree also fell on a houseboat on one of Amsterdam's historic canals, while another toppled onto a tram in The Hague, though no one was hurt.
Flights resumed at Schiphol today, but the airport warned of busier than usual wait times at check-in or for security checks.
It was the "first very severe summer storm ever measured" in the country, Dutch weather service Weerplaza said, adding that the gusts were also the strongest recorded in the summer in the Netherlands.
The last storm of similar strength to hit the country at any time was in January 2018, it added.
Storm Poly came a day after a small tornado hit the central city of Apeldoorn, causing damage but no injuries, local media said.
With around a third of the country lying below sea level, the Netherlands is vulnerable to extreme weather and the effects of climate change, and has a huge system of water defences.
A violent North Sea storm on the night of 31 January to 1 February 1953 killed more than 1,836 Dutch people.
