Photos: The devastation caused by Storm Eunice in western Europe

Emergency crews have battled to restore power to more than one million homes and businesses a day after Storm Eunice carved a deadly trail across northwest Europe and left transport networks in disarray.

At least 16 people were killed by falling trees and flying debris caused by the fierce winds in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland, emergency services said.

Train operators in Britain urged people not to travel after most of the network was shut down when Eunice brought the strongest wind gust ever recorded in England –  196km/h (122mph).

The train network in the Netherlands was paralysed, with no Eurostar and Thalys international services running from Britain and France after damage to overhead power lines.

France and Ireland were also grappling with rail disruption and power cuts, and Germany’s rail operator Deutsche Bahn said “more than 1,000km [620 miles]” of track had suffered damage.

Poland had 1.2 million customers without electricity on Saturday afternoon, officials said, after the country’s northwest took a battering.

In the UK, 226,000 homes and businesses remained without power after 1.2 million others were reconnected.

About 30 people in northern France were injured in storm-related road accidents, and in the Netherlands, dozens of people have to be evacuated from their homes because of fears that a church’s clock tower might collapse.