Hailstones batter northern coastal areas

A storm of hailstones nearly 2cm in size has battered the Nord – Pas-de-Calais area overnight and offshore winds even created a waterspout off Calais as the Channel coast faces a day of disturbed weather.

Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais were facing the brunt with ice being reported in the Maroilles and Cambrai areas in Nord, although roads were open.

Météo-France is not reporting any major problems ahead but has put the whole of the northern part of France as well as the eastern-most departments on yellow alert.

It says there will be widespread rain from Franche-Comté and down to Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur while the weather will be more changeable from the south-west up to the north.

Snow is expected from 600m in Jura, 1,000m in the pre-Alpes and 1,800m in the Alpine interior – although there is also snow from 500m in the Massif Central and 700m in the Pyrénées.

Frequent rainstorms are expected in Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire across to the Paris region and Hauts de France with a strong possibility of thunderstorms bringing hail and sleet.

Temperatures have plummeted to 1-6C inland in Normandy and in Champagne while temperatures are expected to top out at 11-13C although 15-18C is expected on the Mediterranean coast and 22-24C in Corsica.

Meanwhile, for those who like to keep a weather eye on the UK… this is the stormy picture there