Two years ago, a British tourist was severely injured when a 25-metre high spruce fell on top of him in gusty conditions at a Christmas market in one of the historic squares. He is still trying to claim compensation.

Prague castle was closed late on Friday because high winds ripped off tiles from the roof of the historic complex, tourist hot spot, and official seat of Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

"It is dangerous because tiles are falling from the roof," presidential spokesman Petr Hajek told a Czech Internet news site.

Prague city council also put its volunteer fire fighters on standby late Friday in expectations that the high winds might worsen.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.