British tourist killed in Corsica storm clung to a kayak for two hours

The French Mediterranean island of Corsica was hit by a very violent storm which left at least five dead. Photo / AP

A British woman clung to the side of a stricken kayak with her husband for two hours before dying after a violent storm lashed the holiday hotspot of Corsica, killing five including a teenage girl.

In a tearful interview with France Bleu radio, the husband, who gave his name as Thierry, described how he tried to save her after the pair were thrown into the sea off Erbalunga, near Bastia on the west coast of Corsica on Thursday.

"I told her to try to get in the kayak – I'll help you. I'll get in too and we'll take refuge there," he said.

When he spotted an empty inflatable boat floating towards them in the distance, Thierry thought he could save them both. But it was too late.

"I went to her," he said, his voice breaking. "Her eyes were open and she was foaming at the mouth. She was dead."

The British tourist, who has not yet been identified but is believed to have been in her 60s, was among five people killed as the French island was battered by hurricane force winds on Thursday.

Two victims, including a teenage girl, were killed when trees fell in campsites, two were at sea and one died when a beach hut hit her car.

Severe storms across Europe killed at least 12 people in total, including two children in Austria, but Corsica was the hardest hit.

Hail, heavy rain and winds peaking at 140mph (225km/h) swept the Mediterranean island on Thursday morning, smashing boats and cars, uprooting trees and damaging houses.

"It's such a paradox," Giles Simeoni, regional leader, told franceinfo, referring to the recent heatwaves.

"For weeks we had been living in fear of fires ... and this rain which was supposed to be beneficial turned into a deadly windstorm."

More than 5000 holidaymakers on the island who had been evacuated to temporary shelters should be able to go back to their campsites on Friday, Simeoni said.

More rain and some storms were still possible in Corsica on Friday, forecaster Meteo France said, after it downgraded the weather warning level from "orange" to "yellow".

France is expected to classify the storm as a natural catastrophe next week to help homeowners and businesses with insurance claims for storm damage.

Parts of mainland France also saw more rain in just a few hours than in recent months combined.

Two girls, aged 4 and 8, died in southern Austria when sudden strong wind toppled trees, leaving the area looking "like a battlefield".

A further 13 people were injured, two of them seriously, in the country's Lavant Valley. Officials said many of those hurt were tourists to the holiday destination.

Alexander Van Der Bellen, Austrian president, called the children's deaths "an unfathomable tragedy".

In Lower Austria, three women were killed when lightning struck a tree near the central town of Gaming, causing it to fall over. In Italy, two people died in storms on Thursday.

Austria's storm centre UWZ has issued the highest storm warning level covering large parts of the country's south after gusts of 86mph (138km/h) were recorded on Thursday.

High winds brought down electricity pylons, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes and disrupting rail transport on Friday.

Trains from Vienna to Venice had to be diverted via Salzburg, while regional connections were also halted, the Austrian Federal Railways said.

In Germany, rescue services were put on high alert on Friday as a heavy rainfall warning was issued.

The weather service warned of "extremely abundant, prolonged rain" near the Alps, which could drop as much as 5.5 inches (14cm) of rainfall in the next 48 hours and cause floods.