Video: Hailstorm pelts France over weekend ending early heatwave

Much of France was hit by a bout of stormy weather on Saturday and Sunday that brought violent hailstorms to several areas after days of unseasonably high temperatures

The storms swept north across France and arrived shortly after 15:00, pelting the capital with hailstones for several minutes. Videos shared on social media showed rooftops and pavements coated in white as hail the size of large marbles pelted the capital.

The storm was part of a broader weather front predicted earlier in the day by French weather service Météo France, which had placed the entire Ile-de-France region on yellow-level alert for thunderstorms. 

Temperatures in the capital had reached up to 26C earlier in the day, before dropping steadily into the evening as the system moved through.

The episode was particularly intense. 

In Lyon, where the same storm front passed later in the day, similar scenes were reported. Around 17:00, residents were caught off guard as a barrage of hailstones — described by some as “golf ball-sized”— fell suddenly, forcing pedestrians to scramble for cover.

No injuries or serious damage have been reported in either city.

The hailstorm also hit the south-west.  Residents in  Martres-Tolosane, south of Toulouse, reported hailstones the size of ping-pong balls striking around midnight on Saturday, damaging vehicles and garden furniture. 

The mayor told local media he had never witnessed anything like it, describing the event as highly localised but intense, affecting much of the town centre and nearby districts.

"All the cars in the town centre were hit," he told La Dépêche.

The bad weather also saw more than 2,000 lightning strikes hit the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region on Sunday, May 4, according to Keraunos, the French observatory for storms and tornadoes.

 The Rhône and Isère departments saw the most activity, particularly between midday and 16:00. 

The episode marks a dramatic end to several days of early spring heat in central and northern France, as the weather service announces a cooler and wetter week ahead.

This is more likely in the south, as the return of an anticyclone from the British Isles – similar to the one that caused last week’s high temperatures – will prevent rainfall in the north.

Nonetheless, a drop of between 5C/6C is likely across almost all of France

Some transport disruption 

The stormy weather on Saturday and Sunday caused some disruption to transport networks. According to RATP, four metro stations were temporarily closed due to localised flooding, but services resumed quickly. 

The SNCF also reported no major delays or damage, though small power outages were recorded in some areas. 

These were rapidly resolved and had no significant effect on rail traffic, the operator said.