Meteo France has said that one of the worst storms in France has left one woman dead, two seriously injured and 13 others injured.
The storms, which continued overnight and into the early hours of Sunday, June 5, brought rain, golf-ball-sized hail and more than 50,000 lightning strikes.
According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, the emergency service responded to more than 3,400 incidents overnight and at least one 30-year-old woman died after being swept away by a landslide in Rouen.
Among the 15 injured is a 13-year-old girl who is in critical condition.
Darmanin has said he will propose a declaration of a state of natural disaster when parliament reconvenes on Monday. According to the minister, there has been serious damage, especially to crops.
Bernard Malabirade, president of the Departmental Chamber of Agriculture, told Le Figaro that hailstones the size of golf balls had destroyed many vineyards and that more were to come.
According to French meteorologists, more storms are expected in the east of the country on Sunday, especially in Alsace, Lorraine or Burgundy. The remaining orange alerts that went out yesterday have been withdrawn.
Here is yesterday’s lightning distribution.
Dorset had a fantastic storm with very frequent lightning, but in the end the storms did not develop in the SE, largely because the storms reduced the available power in France, this was noted as a potential issue in the outlook below. https://t.co/kCjEGQDR05 pic.twitter.com/zj1jzOT5E2
— Met4Cast (@Met4CastUK) June 5, 2022
More lightning is expected in northern France and southeastern England. The latter will experience the worst of the lightning according to Met4Cast, although the storm could also lose intensity depending on how it develops over France according to meteorologists.
Unusual weather across most of the world has continued with France experiencing severe storms that have left at least one dead.