• Destructive flooding strikes French and Swiss Alps

    Heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused catastrophic flooding in the French and Swiss Alps on June 11, 2024. In the French village of La Berarde, 97 people were stranded, and in Switzerland’s Zermatt, the Mattervispa river flooded the town center.

  • Storm Ciarán hits Western Europe with record-breaking winds, causing deaths and widespread damage

    Storm Ciarán — the 5th named and the most powerful storm of the 2023/24 European windstorm season — wreaked havoc across Western Europe on November 2, 2023, with record winds reaching 200 km/h (124 mph), leading to floods, blackouts, and major disruptions. Ciarán underwent explosive cyclogenesis, affecting Western Europe and culminating in numerous fatalities, record-breaking wind speeds, and extensive power outages.

  • Tornado rips through village in central France, causing significant damage

    A tornado tore through the village of Pontarion in Creuse, central France, around 17:00 LT on Thursday, March 9, 2023, leaving behind a trail of destruction to infrastructure and buildings. The violent weather caused significant damage to a number of houses, leaving roofs and windows shattered, while telephone lines were also damaged.

  • Violent thunderstorms and tornadoes hit France

    Strong thunderstorms affected large parts of France on October 23, 2022, producing violent wind gusts and tornadoes. The storms hit after several days of warm weather, exceptional in duration for this time of year, with a depression named Beatrice by the Spanish meteorological service.

  • Record-breaking cold hits Europe, causing widespread damage to agriculture

    Unseasonably cold weather hit parts of Europe over the past weekend, following warmer-than-normal temperatures in previous weeks that caused rapid greening of flora. Damage to agriculture is widespread but it seems it’s not as bad as it was last year when a similar cold episode happened. The worst affected countries were France, Germany, Spain and Austria.