Violent storms leave two dead in France

Two people have died after violent storms tore across France yesterday with winds of up to 140 km/h recorded. Around 110,000 homes lost power.

A 12-year old boy was killed by a falling tree near Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). He was reportedly taking part in a river trip nearby, when his group was caught in a storm and a tree fell on him before then falling into the water. In Mayenne a 59-year old man died after crashing his quad bike into a tree that had fallen onto the road. 

In the Loiret an 82-year old was rushed to hospital after he was struck by lightning and 16 other people across the country were hospitalised for various other storm-related injuries. 

A report at 07:00 (June 26) by civil authorities indicated that 110,000 homes across France remained without electricity and were being reconnected to the grid.

Damaged roofs, lightning strikes

Storms swept in from the south-west from the early afternoon and made their way up through central France before hitting the capital and Normandy in the evening. 

They followed storms overnight on Tuesday along the Atlantic coast. 

In Paris, the storms were so powerful that hundreds of trees were uprooted, and up to 20% of flights from Orly airport were cancelled or rerouted. 

Heavy rains caused floods at Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) airport as well as the Assemblée nationale, where a debate on the situation in the Middle East was taking place.

In the south-west, large hailstones fell during the peak of the storms.

Hundreds of roofs were destroyed by hail in Dordogne, including more than 70 in the commune of Belvès, where a man was also injured in the head by a falling tree.

In the Loir-et-Cher department, several electricity pylons were torn and destroyed by the storms as a 'mini tornado' passed through the area.

More than 40,000 lightning strikes were recorded throughout the evening, as the north – including the capital – were impacted. 

At the same time, heats of 40C were recorded in the Pyrénées-Orientales before the storms arrived, and in central France, a high of 39.8C in Clermont-Ferrand. 

Severe alerts lifted 

State forecaster Météo France lifted all heightened tier-three orange alerts for stormy weather this morning, with the worst of the storms set to be over.

However, less severe tier-two yellow alerts for storms remain in place in the north-east and the south-east, as the remnants of the stormy weather threaten these areas.

A handful of less severe heatwave warnings remain in place in central France, but temperatures may drop by up to 15C today in some areas, as a cool front brings brief respite before temperatures rise once again at the weekend.