Violent weather in east and centre

VIOLENT winds and hailstones several centimetres across caused havoc in the east and centre of France at the weekend.

Over the night of Saturday to Sunday there was extensive damage in areas including Lorraine, Franche-Comté, Auvergne and Burgundy.

On Saturday night in the Vosges a small tornado caused serious damage to buildings, including tearing off part of the roof framework of a catering school. The school head said it was “apocalyptic”.

Wind also tore down electricity lines, cutting off around 1,600 homes.

In the Besançon area hailstones several centimetres across damaged crops. “Everything’s devastated – there are no more tomatoes or flowers,” one gardener told BFMTV.

In Auvergne, large hailstones were reported as denting a car and smashing windows.

In Lorraine, trees were blown down on to roads, damaging cars. Several school roofs were damaged and roofs and windows were also damaged at private homes.

There were hundreds of call-outs by the fire service to assist.

Extreme weather is reported to be on the on the increase in France.

The Observatoire Français des Tornades et des Orages Violents which studies tornadoes and violent storms, said there are around 40-50 tornadoes in France per year, thought most are of weak intensity.

During the Fête de la Musique (June 21), for example, an intense storm which witnesses said was accompanied by “fireballs and very violent winds” was experienced in the Landes and heavy storms forced the cancellation of events across the northern half of the country.

A month before, in Nancy, violent storms with record rainfall in a few hours caused a death and major damage.

Photo: BFMTV