Thunderstorm warnings were in place in many parts of France on Wednesday, in a sudden break in the heatwave the country has been experiencing for weeks.
Violent storms and flooding were forecast across much of southern France, where an “orange” alert – the second highest – was issued in five Mediterranean departments.
Paris was hit by severe thunderstorms on Tuesday night, dumping much of the French capital’s monthly average rainfall in an hour and a half.
By 7 p.m., more than 40 millimeters of rain had fallen in the space of 90 minutes, according to the French national weather service Meteo-France. That was almost “70 percent of what normally falls in a whole month,” a spokesman said.
Traffic in and around the capital was disrupted for the time being as the rain fell. Several metro stations in Paris closed their entrances due to the bad weather, not least the rainwater that came down some of the stairs leading to the platforms.
The top of the Eiffel Tower experienced winds of over 100 kilometers per hour. Despite the strength of the storms that hit the Paris region, there were relatively few disruptions and by the end of the evening, public transport was mostly back to normal.
A spokesman for the Paris fire brigade said at 21:00 that “no significant intervention” had been made in the capital, apart from “some flooded basements”.
By Wednesday, some of the images posted on social media from other parts of France were no less impressive. In the South West, violent hailstorms prompted calls for people to take care.
A violent storm also hit Marseille and the surrounding region overnight, with winds in places recorded at almost 150 kilometers per hour. The heaviest amount of rain was recorded in Puéchabon near Montpellier, with 97 millimeters falling in one hour.
Rain and thunderstorms were also forecast for an area of northern France on Wednesday, from the Pays de la Loire northwest to the Belgian border.
Thunderstorms and hail were also forecast from the Rhone valley in the northeast, with potentially prolonged rain expected to fall from the southwest Aquitaine region in central France.