Thunderstorms battered central parts of Europe on Friday, with the Wagner festival theatre in Bayreuth among the buildings flooded by torrential rain, according to dpa. Peter Emmerich, spokesman for the annual Wagner festival, said rainwater which did not run off properly had invaded parts of the 19th-century building, but the festival would begin as planned on July 25. Lightning knocked out electricity supplies to both the city's hospitals, forcing them to rely on generators, while trees toppled over in fierce gusts caused by the electrical storm damaged an estimated 50 cars. The storms over southern Germany and Switzerland began before dawn.
