LONDON — The winter storm Eleanor tore through Europe on Wednesday with winds of up to 100 miles per hour, bringing lightning and heavy rain, battering houses with hail, flooding streets and uprooting trees.

The storm — named Burglind in Austria, Germany and Switzerland — arrived in tandem with a cold front, hitting Ireland before passing through Britain and on to Continent. Travelers were delayed, and adverse weather was expected to be felt as far north as the Baltics and as far south as Italy.

Weather warnings were the order of the day, with forecasts of violent winds, mostly in coastal areas. Workers raced to restore power to thousands of homes, and to clear highways and train tracks of trees and overturned vehicles.