Storms cause widespread damage across France; weekend weather set to improve

Storms brought heavy rain, strong winds and hail to parts of France on Thursday, August 27, causing flooding, fallen trees and damage to buildings and roads. 

The Île-de-France region, eastern France and the south-east saw several hundred emergency interventions, and thousands lost power. There were also reports of minor injuries and damage to property.

The Paris region saw the worst of it, with Val-de-Marne hit particularly badly. 

While storms will continue to affect parts of eastern France today, the weather is expected to become calmer over the weekend.

Thursday overview 

In Seine-et-Marne, the storms were especially violent as a supercell crossed the south and east of the department, with gusts reaching 142km/h at Chevru and 130km/h at Nangis, according to La Chaîne Météo.

The forecaster noted that the two wind speeds were records.

The storm also brought hailstones of up to 5cm, damaging crops in the department including maize and sugar beet. 

Meanwhile, local flooding occurred in several regions. In Aurillac, 61mm of rain fell, equivalent to around three weeks of rainfall.

Damage in the Paris region

Val-de-Marne was one of the worst-hit departments in Île-de-France. In an update on Friday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the storms had led to “several hundred emergency interventions”.

He said the situation had been especially difficult in Île-de-France, eastern France and the south-east, with 80 interventions in Seine-et-Marne and 120 in Val-de-Marne, mainly because of fallen trees.

Mr Nuñez also said that around 1,700 homes in eastern France and 500 in Allier were without power.

Three people had also suffered minor injuries, in Loire, Val-de-Marne and Doubs.

In Ivry-sur-Seine, the municipality reported damage both in public areas and in municipal buildings.

“Dozens of trees have been uprooted,” the mairie said in a Facebook post adding that “some schools have been affected.”

“The sky became covered. Winds came from everywhere. Hailstones, crazy rain, wind… We couldn't see a metre ahead. And when we came out, after five minutes, this is what we saw: damage,” local resident Lionel Trouillet told France2. 

The municipality said its teams were working with civil protection, firefighters, the police and Val-de-Marne authorities to clear the damage and measures were being taken to ensure that preparations for the new school year could continue.

Neighbouring Vitry-sur-Seine was also affected by fallen trees and branches.

Mayor Pierre Bell-Lloch said a “severe [weather] disturbance” had hit the town and caused damage in several areas.

“All municipal staff are mobilised to intervene in the town and repair the damage,” he said.

The mayor also asked residents to report fallen or dangerous trees so that teams could deal with them as quickly as possible.

“During the intervention, please be careful on the roads and protect yourselves,” he added.

The mairie also published photos of the damage which can be seen here. 

Paris streets flooded and trains disrupted

In Paris, the storm was at its most violent early in the evening. La Chaîne Météo reported that “a very heavy storm” had struck the capital, with streets flooded because rainwater was struggling to drain away.

The storms also caused major disruption to public transport. Services at Paris’s Gare d’Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon were badly affected by obstacles on the tracks, while several RER and tram services were also interrupted.

Most services had returned to normal by Friday morning, but the RER C was still unable to serve Choisy, Les Ardoines, Vitry, Ivry and Bibliothèque François Mitterrand because of a fallen tree.

More storms and damage further east

The unstable weather also affected other parts of France.

In Yonne, firefighters carried out around 20 interventions during the night from Thursday into Friday, mainly for flooding and fallen trees. Several communities were affected, but no injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, Doubs saw more than 200 interventions on Thursday with firefighters continuing working on Friday morning protecting properties and covering damaged roofs.

On the A36 motorway, some motorists had to stop after the windows of their vehicles were broken.

Friday: storms move east

Storms are now set to move eastwards today.

Météo-France said the most active storms were now moving east, with further risks of hail, heavy rain and strong winds. Gusts could reach around 80 to 100km/h or more locally.

The stormiest conditions are expected in the east during the morning before moving towards the Alps and Jura. Further west, showers and occasional thunderstorms remain possible, but they are expected to be less severe than Thursday's.

Temperatures have also already dropped following Thursday's heat.

Today's maximums are expected to reach around 23C in Paris, 24C in Lyon, 25C in Strasbourg, 28C in Toulouse and Marseille, and 30C in Nice. Ajaccio could reach around 35C, with parts of Corsica reaching up to 40C.

What to expect this weekend

The weekend should be calmer overall, but there will be a clear difference between northern and southern France.

On Saturday, the Channel and parts of the Atlantic coast will remain unsettled, with cloudy periods, showers and a risk of thunderstorms.

Temperatures will be relatively cool for late August, at around 18-22C on the Channel coast.

The Atlantic coast will also be windy, with the sea becoming rough in exposed areas. 

Then, further south, conditions will be drier. The Mediterranean will offer much more summery weather. Saturday is expected to be mainly sunny, with temperatures of around 26-32C. 

However, winds will be stronger from Var towards the Côte d'Azur and Corsica, making conditions at sea more difficult in places.

Sunday conditions should remain similar on the Mediterranean coast, which is expected to be largely sunny, with temperatures around 27-32C and warm sea temperatures. 

Northern and western France could still see some cloud, showers and an occasional thunderstorm, but conditions should be more settled than on Saturday.