- Large parts of France have been and are still being hit by severe storms.
- At least one person has died so far, according to French authorities.
- In the south of the country, hailstones larger than golf balls caused damage.
As the city administration in Rouen, northern France announced, a woman fell under a car in a flash flood caused by a storm and died.
In the southern Landes and Gers departments, hailstones larger than golf balls caused damage to vineyards, officials and winegrowers said.
Tens of thousands of hectares of land were affected by the damage caused by the hailstorm, said the head of the Gers agricultural authority, Bernard Malabirade. The winemaker Nelly Lacave in the Landes department told the AFP news agency: “There is nothing left in the vineyards, the roof of our farm building looks like a Swiss cheese and the windows on the house broke.”
The windows of the house were broken.
The electricity supplier Enedis announced on Saturday evening that around 5,000 households across the country were cut off from the power supply due to the storm.
In the Loir-et-Cher department in the center of the country, around 30,000 scouts who had gathered there for Pentecost camping had to be brought to safety in a hurry. Ten thousand children between the ages of eight and 12 were accommodated at the local castle, Scout spokesman Damien Tardy said.
There are also numerous reports from train passengers that TGV and other trains could no longer continue. The weather service predicted more storms for France, moving northwards and eastwards through the country from the south-west. Accordingly, the storms will soon reach Switzerland.