Violent Night Storms Sweep Central and Eastern France

Overview

• A rapid convective episode on Thursday night produced roughly 34,000–40,000 lightning strikes, widespread intense electrical activity and violent winds across central and eastern France.
• Emergency services reported two storm-related deaths, one person killed by a falling tree in Haute-Vienne and one person who died in an Isère workshop fire started by lightning.
• Heavy, very large hail up to about 6–7 cm battered areas such as Aubenas in Ardèche and damaged hundreds of vehicles, roofs and some vineyards with estimated losses of 30–80 percent on badly hit parcels.
• The storms caused major disruption to infrastructure with about 53,000 households without power on Friday morning, autoroute and regional rail interruptions, and hundreds of firefighter interventions in departments like the Loire.
• Météo‑France said the virulent episode has ended and lifted orange alerts, but local authorities and Enedis continue damage assessments, power restoration and support for displaced residents.