A truck driver died yesterday when a tree uprooted by powerful winds smashed his vehicle, as storms pounded the western French seaboard, leaving 500,000 people without electricity. Winds gusting to 93 m.p.h. uprooted trees and sent rooftops, chimneys and bell towers flying in areas across western Brittany, where emergency services reported power cuts, traffic chaos and delays in rail services.

The driver of a truck in the Loire-Atlantique region south of Brittany died instantly when a tree fell on to the roof.

The downing of three major power lines left 500,000 people in Morbihan, Finistere and the Cotes d'Armor in Brittany without electricity for nearly an hour.

Further power cuts were reported in La Rochelle, Royan and on the Ile de Re and a farmer was hurt near Bordeaux when his poultry pen was whipped away by strong winds. Firemen were called out 140 times in the area.

In Brittany trains were delayed by 90 minutes due to power cuts and several trucks overturned,

blocking roads and bridges, as winds ravaged the region in the early hours yesterday, emergency services said.

Seas were expected to swell to 25 feet, while inland winds were due to reach 68 m.p.h.

The storms - associated with a cold front from the North Atlantic moving across France and southern England - were expected to subside later in the day, but further violent winds are due on Sunday, weather forecasters said.

In Britain three people, including a baby, were killed on Thursday in a head-on collision in Gloucester blamed on fierce storms pounding the west of England, police said yesterday.

Forecasters there warned of winds of up to 90 m.p.h. today. Motorists were urged to stay off the roads, particularly on the west coast of Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

In northern Spain, meanwhile, a severe storm sank about a dozen boats, including a 27-tonne fishing boat, in the port of Puerto de Vega but caused no injuries, authorities reported yesterday.

Local authorities estimated the damage at several million dollars.

El Nino has so far resulted in at least 16 deaths and more than $12 million in damages in Peru, civil defence authorities said in a preliminary report yesterday.

Fifteen people are also unaccounted for as a result of the weather phenomenon.

In addition, 12 people are missing in the Andean province of Huaura, including eight members of one family who are feared buried in a mudslide.