Bad weather in France: impressive images of hail storms

Violent hailstorms hit the northern part of the country, causing heavy damage. Check out the impressive images.

On Wednesday May 1, 2024, hail and violent storms hit the Ile-de-France region and more broadly, part of northern France. In total, Météo-France had placed 17 departments on orange vigilance, from Marne to Cavlados. In fact, Burgundy and Yonne were particularly affected.

Plots of vines massacred by hail

Rivers of hail were seen in La Chapelle-Vaupelteigne. According to L’Yonne republicaine, certain plots of Chablis were ravaged. “It is difficult at the moment to quantify the damage, many municipalities are affected, it is certain that they will be very significant” indicates the president of the La Défense Federation of the Chablis appellation in the daily.

On the A1 motorway, from Wednesday evening in Val-d’Oise, the bitumen was covered with a white coat. Road users had to stop to avoid any accident.

Major disruptions at airports

The disruptions extended to Orly and Roissy Charles de Gaulle airports. Around thirty flights were diverted. Some passages were therefore forced to land in Nantes, Lille or even Lyon. From Paris, other travelers simply could not take off from the French capital. For the luckiest among them, some flights are rescheduled from this Thursday morning.

“Hailstones the size of a bullet” in Île-de-France

In Côte-d’Or, the size of the hailstone picked up by a resident and relayed on the Twitter account “Météo Côte d’Or” attests to the violence of the bad weather that occurred the day before. At the same time, in Tremblay-en-France, “hailstones the size of a bullet” also fell, according to information from France Bleu Paris. Val-d’Oise and Seine-et-Marne were also particularly affected by major storms, floods, and unusual hailstorms. Météo Express attests to the quantity of hail that fell in the town of Croissy-Beaubourg (Seine-et-Marne). The ground is completely covered, like in the middle of winter.