Violent storms sweep northern France leaving several injured and thousands without power as festival evacuated
Violent storms swept across northern France overnight, from Normandy to the Hauts-de-France, injuring at least seven people, cutting power to tens of thousands, and forcing the evacuation of an outdoor festival.
Night of storms
The storm system hit on the night of Saturday 27 June to Sunday 28 June, with 46 departments under orange alert from the Pays Basque to the Nord. The storms followed a heatwave that had gripped much of France. Météo-France had issued the highest warning level for thunderstorms.
- Supercell storm hits Les Andelys, Normandy, causing roof damage and uprooted trees.
- Violent storms sweep across northern France; 46 departments under orange alert.
- 28,000 households remain without electricity; SNCF lines blocked by fallen trees.
- New storm deterioration expected from the Pyrenees to the Massif Central.
Hauts-de-France: the hardest-hit region
In the Nord department, firefighters carried out 405 interventions, mainly for fallen trees and flooded homes. Two people were injured. At Maubeuge, 30 mm of rain fell in one hour, the equivalent of 15 days of precipitation. A wind gust of 104 km/h was recorded at Saint-Hilaire-sur-Helpe. In the neighbouring Aisne, lightning sparked several fires, including one in Laon where five people were slightly injured. Gusts exceeded 100 km/h. Across the Somme, the outdoor festival Retro C Trop, with around 2,900 attendees, was evacuated overnight; the prefecture reported significant material damage from falling trees but no injuries.
- Nord
- 405
- Aisne
- 118
- Somme
- 122
- Nord
- 2
- Aisne
- 5
Normandy, Pays de la Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine
A supercell thunderstorm struck the commune of Les Andelys in Eure on Saturday evening, bringing a rotating cloud, uprooted trees, damaged vehicles and torn-off roofs. Several chimneys were weakened or destroyed. In Mayenne, the mayor of Bouère described a mini-tornado lasting about three minutes with hail, which felled hundreds of trees and cut most access roads to the village. At Saint-Marcel-du-Périgord in Dordogne, lightning hit a house, igniting its electrical meter; the fire spread to the kitchen before being extinguished by firefighters. Météo France recorded over 1,200 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Dordogne and a total of 20,568 flashes during two successive storm waves.
It was a mini-tornado for about three minutes, with hail. Hundreds of trees were torn down, and most access roads to the commune were cut off on Saturday evening.
Power cuts and transport
Up to 56,000 households lost electricity at the peak of the storms, with 28,000 still without power on Sunday morning. SNCF reported several TER lines in Hauts-de-France blocked by fallen trees.
What comes next
Météo-France expects a new active storm deterioration on Sunday afternoon and evening, moving from the Pyrenees to the Massif Central.
