Giant hailstones, damaged cars, gutted roofs… Violent storms cause considerable damage in France

A “heavily stormy” situation is in place in the country, according to Météo France, which is warning for this Thursday 16th July 2026, while heavy damage has already been recorded.

Gusts of wind between 80 and 100 km/h, or even occasionally up to 110-120 km/h, hail sometimes large in diameter (2 to 5 centimeters, or even a little more), intensities of rain from 15 to 30 millimeters in a short time (up to 50mm in one to two hours), an intense electrical activity…

Météo-France multiply (again) orange and yellow vigilance for very high risks of storms, for this Thursday 16th July 2026.

And these storms, for several hours, in this new context scorching, have already done great damage, as reported in pictures our local editorial offices across France.

Damaged vineyards, gutted roofs, damaged cars…

Hailstones, sometimes the size of one tennis ball and whose images have circulated a lot on the social networks, notably fell this Wednesday afternoon, July 15, in the south of the department of l’Ardèche.

Damaged vineyards, gutted roofs, damaged cars… Residents are still assessing the terrible damage this Thursday 16th July 2026, as for example in Dijon (Côte-d’Or), where a hailstorm fell the day before.

Énorme grêlons en Ardèche 🫪 #ardeche #grele pic.twitter.com/nKx4o0IoSu
— Lorenzo (@Souvien_Toi) July 15, 2026

In a few minutes, this Wednesday evening, July 15, 2026, torrential rain accompanied by hailstones sometimes as big as ping-pong balls fell on the city, causing a lot of damage.
Dijon news

HAS Aubenas (Ardèche), hundreds of vehicles were damaged, roofs gutted, windows broken, tiles torn down or destroyed, according to a press release from the town hall.

According to the prefecture, nearly 600 homes were cut off from the electricity network on Wednesday evening, after lines were also damaged. And a campsite was devastated.

A violent episode of hail also ravaged vineyards in Charente-Maritime.

Many homes without electricity

In Indre-et-loire 700 homes were still without electricity this Thursday after a stormy episode which affected Tours and the rest of the department, in the evening of Wednesday 15th July 15 which caused localised flooding, fires and falling trees.

[⛈️] #Orage supercellulaire avec forte grêle à Dijon il y a une heure. pic.twitter.com/JJm4supJb3
— Sylvain Taisant 🏳️‍🌈 (@SylvainTaisant) July 15, 2026

Lightning also struck the south of the department of Sarthe. The la Flèche Zoo will remain closed all day this Thursday 16th July 2026. 150 interventions were carried out by 90 firefighters from around twenty rescue centers.

Some floods were also reported in Vannes. And it’s not over, then. Caution!

A “strongly stormy situation”

For this Thursday 16th July, Météo-France is warning about a “strongly stormy situation” in a heatwave context which requires particular vigilance, to the extent that there is a marked risk of violent phenomena.

This Friday 17th July temperatures will still be between 34 and 38°C in the departments remaining on orange heatwave alert, 30 to 34°C in the north of Ardèche and Drôme. And, extreme heat will persist for the next few days in the southeast.