Roads turn into rivers of ice and towns turn white in Germany and France as freak hail storms and howling winds hammer Europe ahead of yet another roasting heatwave
Roads in parts of Germany and France turned into rivers of ice and towns were covered in white as hailstorms and strong winds hit Europe ahead of a new heat wave.
Severe storms ravaged both countries; Huge hailstones caused torrential rain, strong winds and widespread damage, although much of France was under an orange heatwave alert.
Social media videos showed cars struggling to navigate flooded roads and icy streets, while other clips showed golf ball-sized hailstones falling to the ground.
One of the videos shows the damage caused to the windshield of a car by huge hailstones.
Many regions in France, including Charente-Maritime, Ardeche and Côte-d’Or, were hit by heavy hailstorms on Wednesday.
In Charente-Maritime, overnight storms from Tuesday to Wednesday damaged the roofs of houses and cars, while vineyards were also devastated.
A professional told news outlet Ici that ‘about fifteen hectares were affected, 7 or 8 of which had at least 50 percent or more damage’ described by ‘ping-pong ball-sized hailstones’.
In the afternoon, a strong hail storm was effective in the Ardeche region, which lasted for about an hour and a half.
In clips shared on social media, hailstones the size of golf balls can be seen falling to the ground.
Social media videos show cars struggling to navigate flooded roads and icy streets
One of the videos shows the damage caused to the windshield of a car by huge hailstones.
Hailstones measuring several centimeters shattered car windshields and caused serious damage to Aubenas.
The town’s mayor, Jean-Romain Ribeyre, described it as an ‘extraordinarily violent incident’.
According to the governor’s office, the storms brought heavy rain, severe lightning, strong winds and hailstones exceeding five centimeters in diameter in some areas.
Meanwhile, more than 200 emergency calls were made, 600 houses were left without electricity, and nearly 30 firefighters were assigned to fight the fire, which was believed to have been caused by lightning.
Residents of Dijon in the Côte-d’Or region were also caught unprepared for the sudden storm.
One resident told France 3: ‘I saw the wind getting stronger, then a dull sound rose before the first white hailstones fell. It got so bad I had to pull the curtains down immediately.’
Some of the hailstones were the size of ping-pong balls, they added.
Further east, a superstorm and severe hailstorm hit the southern German city of Reutlingen on Thursday morning, leaving widespread damage.
The storm triggered flooding and buried roads under thick layers of hail, turning streets into icy rivers as emergency crews worked to clear debris and respond to damage across the city.
Meteo France said more storms were expected in Brittany, the Gironde and the Pyrenees on Thursday, especially in the morning hours.
It warned that at noon ‘a more significant storm system will develop from the Pays de la Loire region towards the Massif Central, Burgundy and the northern Rhône-Alpes region’.
The weather agency said the storms ‘could bring hail, strong winds and locally 30 to 50mm of rain’.
It also warned that ‘another potentially strong storm system may form over Languedoc-Roussillon around noon’.
It comes as experts warn that temperatures of 50°C (122°F) are ‘entirely possible’ in Southern Europe in the coming weeks.
Europe is already in the midst of a severe heatwave, with temperatures in large parts of Spain reaching 44°C (111.2°F) last week.
Hail up to several centimeters shattered the car’s windshields and caused serious damage.
The weather agency said the storms ‘could bring hail, strong winds and 30 to 50mm of rain, or locally more’
Deaths in France rose by almost a third in the hottest week on record in June
This extraordinary heat sparked forest fires in France and Spain, and thousands of people had to be evacuated.
In France, deaths rose by almost a third in the hottest week on record in June.
According to official figures, more than 2,000 deaths were recorded in the country during the June heat wave and more than 300 deaths in the scorching heat in May.
The country faces its third heat wave since May, with temperatures reaching 40C in western and central parts of the country and as high as 37C in Paris.
In response to the scorching heat, the French government announced on Friday that it would open ‘cooling centres’ for vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and the homeless.
Experts from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed that last month was the warmest June ever recorded for Western Europe.
ECMWF Climate Strategic Lead Samantha Burgess said: ‘June 2026 has highlighted how profoundly the climate has changed.
‘Western Europe recorded its warmest June in history and record warmth continued in the global ocean.
‘These records together reflect a climate system that continues to accumulate heat.
‘The result is increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean and increasing risks to people, ecosystems and infrastructure in Europe and beyond.’
