France ravaged by heavy thunderstorms with huge hailstones: ‘Looks like the end of the world’ | Abroad

Numerous spectacular images of the extreme weather are doing the rounds on social media. “It seems like the end of the world,” the residents say. The violent storm caused a lot of material damage in several places. For example, the roof of a supermarket in Dijon collapsed while customers were still inside. There were no injuries.

It is very hot in various parts of France at the moment. In the Haute-Savoie department, the temperature climbed to 40.2 degrees. It was the first time the mercury rose above 40 degrees on the French mainland this year.

Code red is also very rare in France. For example, it was only announced once last year. In 24 eastern French departments, code orange for thunderstorms applied on Tuesday and code orange for heat was in force in nine departments. On Wednesday, the warning for thunderstorms still applies in twelve departments.

In Haut-Rhin, 6,000 households were without power on Tuesday evening as a result of the storm. In the Territoire de Belfort, 1200 families still had no electricity around 10 p.m. Around 8 p.m., there were still 4,000. Lightning had struck at least 500 times. In the Doubs department, about 2,500 households were also without power.

There was also a heavy thunderstorm in Switzerland on Tuesday on the hottest day of the year. In Chur in Graubünden, the hottest place in the country, the mercury rose to 37.6 degrees. In the canton of Friborg, a woman was seriously injured by a lightning strike and there were delays at Zurich airport due to the storm. Just like in France, code red applied to the entire country in Switzerland.

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