Videos: violent storms wreak havoc across France
Flights were also diverted from major Paris airport due to heavy rain
Lightning was seen across the country during the storms
Leopoldd / Shutterstock
A trail of damage was left in the wake of the weekend’s storms that battered France from north to south.
Several areas of southern France saw powerful storms descend over the weekend, leaving flooding and hailstorms in the Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine regions.
The storms also brought a dazzling lightning display to French skies.
A 400m² property in the south-west of France (near Agen in the Lot-et-Garonne) was set ablaze after being hit by a lightning bolt on Saturday (May 10) evening.
A second property in the west (Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique) of France also caught fire on Saturday after its roof was hit by lightning and caught fire.
A video of the fire in Saint-Nazaire can be seen below.
In both cases firefighters scrambled to put out the blazes, and no injuries were recorded.
The videos below show hail that fell on Sunday throughout Occitanie, particularly in the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
The heavy rainfall also led to flooding in parts of the south, with up to 100mm of rain falling over the weekend.
In parts of the Pyrénées-Orientales, this is the equivalent of over a month of rainfall.
Flooding also occurred in the south-west around Langon (Gironde), an area which also saw hail over the weekend. A road in the department was closed due to the storms in the commune of Grignols.
If your property is damaged by a storm you generally do not need to wait for a natural disaster (catastrophe naturelle) to be declared, and can file a claim with your insurer immediately.
A certificate proving weather conditions at the time of the claim may be required from your insurer, which you can request from state forecaster Météo France (although you must pay for it).
Read more: How do I get a ‘lightning certificate’ for French home?
In cases related to flooding, however, you may need to wait for the commune to be listed a site of a natural disaster.
Planes diverted in Paris
While storms in the capital were not as powerful as those at the start of the month, intense conditions near Paris caused a number of flights to be diverted on Sunday night.
Around 20 flights scheduled to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) were diverted to avoid having to land during poor conditions.
Planes that were diverted landed at a range of airports including southern neighbour Paris Orly, Nantes, Lyon, and even across the border into Belgium. Others returned to their departure airport to avoid the storm.
A video of rain pelting the terminal at Charles de Gaulle can be seen below.
Storms are set to continue today (Monday May 12) across France, before being restricted to the south later in the week.
They are forecast to drop in intensity as the week goes on.
