BARCELONA, Jan 24: Hurricane-force winds lashed Spain and France on Saturday, killing 14 people, including four children when part of a sports hall collapsed. Nearly two million were left without electricity.

High winds brought down part of the sports hall in Sant Boi de Llobregat, in northeastern Spain near Barcelona, a regional government spokeswoman said, killing the four children and injuring nine.

Spanish media reported that the children had been playing baseball outside but took shelter in the building.

French forecasters reported record-breaking winds, reaching 184 kilometres an hour at Perpignan in French Catalonia, and sounded a red alert across nine departments for the first time, though reduced it to two later in the day.

The winds caused widespread disruption in both countries, with some 1.7 million homes experiencing power cuts in France, according to electricity grid operator ERDF, and tens of thousands in Spain as high voltage lines were brought down.—AFP