In Paris, about 40,000 visitors to the We Love Green festival in the Bois de Vincennes were forced to flee due to the harsh weather conditions on Saturday evening. Organizer Marie Sabot said on BFMTV that the evacuation was peaceful. The spectators will be compensated.
Other parts of France were also hit by heavy showers, lightning and very strong gusts of wind. Winegrowers in the Southwest reported hailstones of several centimeters. “Larger than a golf ball,” said the director of the Armagnac trade association. It is estimated that between 4000 and 5000 hectares of vines have suffered. Agricultural organizations also fear the harvest on tens of thousands of hectares with other crops.
Several farms and other buildings were damaged, some of which had their roofs blown off. There were no reports of personal injury in the southwestern regions. However, 4500 households were without power and aid workers had to take action hundreds of times.
The French Meteorological Service had warned of severe thunderstorms in the southwest, advancing to the north and east. Locally, 40 to 60 millimeters of rain could fall in a short time. The Netherlands may also have to deal with the severe weather on Sunday afternoon.