Dozens of people injured and hundreds of homes are damaged after tornado tears through French village
A tornado tore through the village of Pomas in southwestern France, injuring 41 people and damaging around 300 homes in a community of roughly 1,000 residents. The incident, part of a wider storm system that brought orange weather alerts across the French southwest, caused widespread power outages, transport disruption and forced the cancellation of a stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race, underscoring the severity of the extreme weather affecting the region.
Fifteen of the injured required hospital treatment, including a pregnant woman who was trapped beneath a collapsed wall after part of her home caved in; police said a sofa had shielded her, though the condition of her unborn baby remains unknown. More than 120 emergency workers were sent to the scene, two shelters were opened in Pomas and Limoux, and gendarmes patrolled affected areas overnight. Météo-France recorded wind gusts of up to 73mph nearby, while hailstones of 3-5cm fell in the area, and roughly 2,800 homes across ten villages lost electricity. The storms also disrupted trains and caused flight delays and cancellations at airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and Paris.
- Tornado hits Pomas, France, injuring 41 and damaging 300 homes
- Pregnant woman hurt when wall collapsed; baby's condition unknown
- Storms caused power cuts, travel chaos and a cycling race cancellation