Photos: Surprise storms and tornado hit Brittany

Several homes have been damaged and areas flooded after surprise storms and a mni tornado hit Brittany and the Pays-de-la-Loire regions yesterday. 

Weather forecasts had predicted showers and gales in the area for Tuesday, but residents were instead surprised by heavy downpours and strong winds of up to 120 km/h on the mainland. 

On the island of Groix near Lorient, a high of 123 km/h was recorded.

None of the departments were facing heightened weather alerts from forecaster Météo France at the time.

The storm appeared so quickly that authorities “unfortunately did not receive any advance warning, which made it impossible to anticipate,” said the Lorient (Morbihan) mairie.

The biggest impact was early in the morning, with firefighters in the Morbihan department receiving nearly 40 callouts before 10:00. 

A male motorcyclist, 57, died near Rennes around 07:00 following a road accident. 

Authorities are yet to confirm whether the conditions at the time – including strong rain – influenced the incident. 

‘Tornado’ sweeps through rural Brittany

A ‘tornado-like’ phenomenon hit the small village of Guéhenno (Morbihan), damaging several homes and leaving debris strewn across the area.

Images of the tornado itself were not taken, but a video showing the damage can be seen below. 

Meteorologists have since said they are confident the phenomenon was a tornado. 

These are rare but not impossible to see in France. 

The tornado felled trees and blew several rooftops off during its passage through the village.

Electricity poles serving the village were torn down by the tornado, and windows of homes were blown out alongside. Some people caught splinters in their body from window sashes exploding. 

Others saw their homes flooded after rooftops were blown off, and a mobile home parked in the village was completely destroyed, as was an agricultural building.

Three people were lightly injured in the incident, including a 7-year old who was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, but no serious injuries were recorded.

More photos of the damage to the village can be seen below: 

Elsewhere across the regions, heavy rain led to flooding, and fallen trees blocked a number of roads. 

Lorient, the largest city in Morbihan, was impacted by the sudden downfall, with some garages and schools flooded. 

One school is closed until September 4 due to flooding.

The area remains on a tier-two yellow warning for a mixture of stormy weather and strong winds today (September 3).