Violent Storms and Hail : Fires, Landslide.. the Damage of Bad Weather in France this Weekend.

The impressive thunderstorms, showers and hail that hit several regions across France this weekend caused some damage.

The storms returned this weekend. Saturday, may 10th already a third of the country was under surveillance by Meteo France. This Sunday 11th May 2025, 74 departments and Andorra are in yellow for risk of violent storms, across a very large part of the country. Some being, Saturday as Sunday, in alert for heavy rain, avalanches or floods.

“10,629 flashes were detected yesterday in France », said meteorologist Guillaume Sechet on X (ex-Twitter), noting that « hail falls were common in the southwest”.

#orages ⛈️ 10629 éclairs ont été détectées hier en France (3 fois moins que samedi 3 mai).
Les chutes de #grêle ont été fréquentes dans le Sud-ouest, notamment à Langon (sud 40) dans le Sauterne, Saint-Maixant (33), Estampes (32), Castex (32), Saint-Martin-de-Fraigneau (85).
Le… pic.twitter.com/Xgizj1HwCl
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 11, 2025

In some areas of the’Hexagon, the bad weather of the weekend have also caused some damage, as reported on local media.

Two houses burned by thunderstorms

The thunderstorms that hit the Lot-et-Garonne caused a major fire on Saturday, near Agen, in Colayrac-Saint-Cirq, where a house of three floors and 400 m² was struck by lightning in the early evening as reported earlier. This required a large intervention of firefighters, and an important device was quickly deployed on site, to avoid the worst and limit the fire.

A house caught fire after being struck by lightning in a district of Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique, on the evening of Saturday. Lightning fell on the roof that caught fire, igniting the attic. Thanks to a big intervention, the firefighters have overcome the fire. No wounded was reported. The two residents of the house, shocked, were relocated to their families.

Damage caused by hail

An impressive hailstone rain S’ fell in the’ in just a few minutes on Langon and neighboring towns in South Gironde, Saturday. The first images published on social networks, were particularly impressive.

In Langon, hit by a hailstorm, many shops, but also private homes, suffered water damage. “A real torrent. Given how it went, we could have believed that the Garonne had overflowed3, testified a resident. 3It overflowed the sewers, the water trickled very quickly. It was impressive”, he confided.

Meteorologist Guillaume Sechet shared a photo giving an idea of the size of the hailstones on social network X.

Grosse #grêle recueillie à #Langon (Sud #Gironde) vers 18h @PradinesFr pic.twitter.com/psmuY7OlnD
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 10, 2025

Landslides and flooding due to rain

The departmental 655E5 at the commune of Grignols, in Gironde, was cut off from traffic this Sunday, and is being secured. After the hailstorm which is downed on Langon and the heavy showers which touched the area, several houses were flooded. Some roads in the south of the Gironde were partially flooded and made impassable due to landslides, caused by bad weather.

More than 1,000 lightning bolts sold on Saturday

On Saturday, the Vendee was hit by strong episodes of storms. There were 1,045 lightning flashes recorded by Keraunos (the French observatory for tornadoes and violent storms). Many’ashes, rainfall and even « hail between Les Epesses and Mortagne-sur-Sevre », a detailed Climate Sold. The department was the 3rd most affected in the day. In particular the municipalities of Saint-Hilaire-de-Loulay, Les Epesses, Le Boupere, while Les Sables-d’Olonne, which hosted the great parade of the Vendee Globe, was little affected.

More hail and thunderstorms this Sunday

Hail or thunderstorms were still falling in different regions of France, this Sunday at 17 am, as reported by meteorologist Guillaume Sechet on X.

⚠️⛈️ Dimanche 17 h : Un #orage de #grêle ralenti fortement la circulation sur l’autoroute A40, près d’#Oyonnax et #Nantua pic.twitter.com/8Ze3rqFzZC
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 11, 2025

De la #grêle filmée par la caméra de #Labastide d’#Armagnac tout à l’heure à 17h @Viewsurf pic.twitter.com/kbXw1RV80Z
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 10, 2025

A hailstorm severely slowed traffic on the’ A40 motorway, near Oyonnax and Nantua, in the Ain. Hail was also filmed in Labastide-d’Armagnac, in the Landes. A big stormy downpour sweeping Grenoble, in the Ain, was reported, around the same time this Sunday.