Storm cuts power to 55,000 homes in France

PARIS (Reuters) - A storm cut electricity to some 55,000 homes in north and northwest France, power distributor ERDF said on Friday. Around 8 am, some 25,000 homes were without power, notably the Pays de la Loire and Normandy regions. In Picardie and in the Ile-de-France region around Paris thousands of homes were also cut off from the grid. ERDF, the distribution unit of French state-controlled utility EDF, said that power would be restored by Friday evening, weather permitting. On Christmas Eve last year, storm damage deprived 240,000 homes of electricity, mostly in coastal Brittany and Normandy. (Reporting by Marine Pennetier, writing by Geert De Clercq)