The storm swept through the capital and is now reaching the north and west of Île-de-France. Pascale Gueret / stock.adobe.com
Lightning, hail and up to 20 millimeters of water fell locally on Paris on Sunday evening. The Bouches-du-Rhône and the South-West also suffered heavy rains.
After weeks without rain in Ile-de-France, bad weather returned on Sunday evening. Lightning strikes, reported on Weather Channel*, were countless. The situation was delicate at the start of the evening, with numerous runoffs reported in the capital, as well as flooded roads in Île-de-France.
The stormy deterioration swept through the capital, bringing torrential rains, violent gusts of wind and lightning before reaching the north and west of the region, then moving away towards Picardy. The north of Yvelines but especially Val-d’Oise suffered very heavy rains, accompanied by occasional hail. On the other hand, the south of Yvelines was less confronted with this intense degradation.
In Paris, many public transport lines have been interrupted. Among other things, the line 3 metro stopped running between Gallieni and Père-Lachaise until 10:45 p.m. Internet users posted impressive images of floods of water, hail, and impressive curtains of rain that fell on the city. Between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., it rained nearly 20mm of water in the 10th and 20th arrondissements. According to the Weather Channel, 20mm of water may have fallen locally in just 10 minutes.
BFM TV specifies for his part that the firefighters have received a large number of calls. “At present, we have noted about 140 interventions rather centralized in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, more than in Paris. None presenting an imminent danger“, explained in particular Captain Vincent Lecomte, communication officer of the Paris firefighters.
The Hauts-de-Seine prefecture has announced the closure of a motorway slip road in Gennevilliers, calling for vigilance. On other videos posted on social networks, roads were completely under water, vehicles rolling with difficulty.
The south also affected
The Paris region is not the only one to have suffered this short but very violent storm. Earlier in the evening, Var and Bouches-du-Rhône were also hit by lightning and heavy rain. These storms remained localized, but they were nevertheless very intense, causing the feared floods.
In the South-West, another line of less mobile thunderstorms formed between the center of Landes and Tarn-et-Garonne. Under the depression, 20 to 30 mm of water could have fallen in a few minutes.
The weather is not expected to improve on Monday. The weather will be marked by a significant risk of thunderstorms in the South and towards the central regions in the afternoon. In the north, despite large cumulus clouds, the situation will be better than the day before, even if the atmosphere will remain heavy, according to the Weather Channel. The next day, Tuesday, the situation will change with the return of completely dry weather north of the Loire and an increased risk of sometimes strong thunderstorms in the South.
*The Weather Channel is a property of the Figaro group.