22 Jul 2022 Weather anomalies drive the French crazy! While fires and extreme heat are raging in one region, hail is pouring in another! According to Météo-France, 21 departments in eastern France are in orange heat or storm conditions, and this situation could last for several more days. Previously, 15 Western departments were on high alert, and yesterday 73 were in orange.
The scorching weather came from the west of the country, where record temperatures were recorded in 63 places and large-scale forest fires. At the same time, a hailstorm “bigger than golf balls” hit, damaging roofs, leveling crops, and making cars look like they’d survived the shootout.
Furious weather has swept through central and southwestern France over the past couple of days, wreaking havoc and causing millions of euros in damage.
Hailstorms hit the north of La Gironde, La Charente, La Charente-Maritime and La Dordogne, as well as part of Béarn, leaving thousands of homes without electricity.
In Digouin, on the Loire River in the center of Saône-et-Loire, the roof of a school gymnasium exploded as hail shattered roof tiles. Senator Fabien Genet said the extreme weather had caused “tremendous damage”.
“We just had a hail storm of unprecedented magnitude, with a hailstorm of a magnitude that has never been seen before in the memory of the inhabitants,” he said.
The weather has also destroyed thousands of hectares of vineyards in the famous Bordeaux wine region.
Olivier Goujon, head of Armagnac’s regional trade organization, said “even more golf balls” fell in the area. And Nelly Leikwe, a vine grower and farmer, said she had lost her entire crop.
“Everything was destroyed by a storm, strong winds and heavy rain,” she said.
“The frost had already killed half the vines in April… we had nothing left this time.”
The recent extreme weather is not the first time that farmers and wine producers have lost crops, and many say they can no longer afford to pay the skyrocketing premiums demanded by insurance companies.
In response to the damage caused by the storms, the French government has promised aid to farmers and wine producers.
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