Storms bring hail, heavy rain and power cuts to France as heatwave continues
Fallen trees leave roads blocked and lightning hits the Eiffel Tower
More storms are expected today as temperatures remain high
Duangdaw/Shutterstock/Meteovilles/X
Storms are set to move eastwards across France today (August 14) after hitting the south-west last night, resulting in power cuts and roads blocked by fallen trees.
Today's storms are forecast to begin in the early afternoon and stretch from the Pyrénées up to the Jura, impacting the Massif Central and Alpine foothills, says state forecaster Météo France.
However, only tier-two yellow warnings are in place for stormy weather, with damage expected to be limited.
Temperatures remain high across France, and are expected to rise again this weekend as the prolonged heatwave continues.
Currently, 75 departments face heightened orange-tier heatwave (canicule) warning, but the maximum level red alerts previously affecting departments in the east have been lowered.
Current predictions see the number of departments facing heightened warnings tomorrow (August 15) rise to 80.
After a brief drop at the end of the week temperatures could again climb on Saturday, reaching up to 42C in the south-west and 40C elsewhere in the east and south, with the national average temperature reaching over 28C.
Hot winds from Spain/North Africa are expected back in France, with areas yet to fully recover from the previous bout of high temperatures.
It could see red-level warnings return for the weekend, before temperatures drop slightly at the start of next week.
Conditions will get progressively cooler but stay well above seasonal averages until the following weekend (August 23).
Hailstones and heavy downpours
Stormy conditions last night brought rain across the south-west, after several days of scorching temperatures. Around 30mm of rain fell in less than an hour in some areas.
This, combined with up to 100 km/h winds, saw intense conditions in departments such as Tarn (Occitanie). Hailstones fell in some areas.
A number of roads were temporarily blocked after trees were brought down by the high winds.
Elsewhere, the storms caused lightning strikes across the country, including in Saint-Etienne.
Despite lesser storm presence in the capital, lightning struck the Eiffel Tower.
Several villages in the Tarn department were without electricity last night after a breakdown of a power station controlled by national grid operator Enedis. However, as of this morning all power is thought to have been restored.
