A tornado tore through the village of Pomas in southern France on Monday, injuring 41 people and damaging roughly 300 homes. Fifteen of the injured were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman whose home collapsed on top of her.
More than 120 emergency workers were deployed to the village in the Aude department of the Occitanie region as winds reached 73mph, tearing off roofs and leaving piles of rubble. Footage shows a huge swirling vortex next to houses and trees before the tornado struck.
Widespread destruction and power outages
Trees were ripped from the ground, cars were badly damaged, and several homes were destroyed. The tornado struck while parts of south-west France were under an orange thunderstorm warning.
The severe weather left around 2,800 homes in 10 villages without electricity and disrupted transport networks. Pomas resident Chantal told French radio: “I heard this massive noise… then I saw everything flying around in the air and my roof collapsed. I’ve got no house left, that’s for sure.”
Transport and sporting events affected
The extreme weather forced the cancellation of the third stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race after a hailstorm in the French Pyrenees made riders seek shelter. Airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse, as well as those north of Paris, saw delays and cancellations, according to Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.
Regional context and summer extreme weather
France’s national weather service, Météo-France, reports that the country experiences several dozen tornadoes every year. The latest storms follow a summer of extreme weather across Europe, with record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires affecting several countries.
France’s south-west has been particularly badly hit, with one of the country’s largest forest fires since the Second World War already burning around 42,000 hectares.
