Photos: roads flooded, tornados and collisions as Storm Aitor hits France
A 439-year-old tree was split, roofs damaged and an HGV left jackknifed across the A43 motorway
Storm Aitor toppled trees around the country on September 26
CatherineLProd / Shutterstock
Storm Aitor swept across France this week leaving damaged roofs, flooded roads, traffic accidents, and fallen trees in its wake. We look at some of the most spectacular images from social media of the storm’s passage.
Six departments were on high (orange) alert on September 26 as up to 80mm of rain was expected to cause flooding in Corrèze, Jura, Isère, Ain, Savoie, and Haute-Savoie.
The storm went on to cross a swathe of France from the west coast to the north-east, leaving flooding and a trail of damaged roofs in its wake.
Read more: Is a natural disaster ruling needed to claim for French home damage?
The bad weather is forecast to continue in some areas.
French weather service Météo France has maintained its (orange) alert level in one department (Seine-et-Marne) for September 28 due to the risk of flooding.
It also kept six other departments on (yellow) alert due to the risk of wind, heavy rain, floods and thunderstorms.
Dramatic scenes of Storm Aitor:
People around France posted the dramatic scenes on social media, here are some of the more spectacular images:
A tornado near Dijon
A small tornado struck Côte-d'Or, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, damaging six houses, with one losing around 50 roof tiles.
An ancient tree damaged in Jura
A 439-year-old tilia tree, planted in 1585, was severely damaged in the commune of Beaufort-Orbagna, Jura, to the dismay of the local community.
The mayor of the village said that he would try to save it.
Flooding and traffic accidents
Over 65km of traffic jams built up near Lyon after the rain caused several road collisions.
An accident involving a lorry and a car closed the A7, before another, involving a lorry jackknifed on the central reservation, cut traffic in both directions on the A43.
“An collision has occurred on the A43 between the St-Quentin Fallavier toll plaza and St-Priest. 1 HGV blocked across the central reservation is obstructing traffic in both directions.” @AutorouteINFO
The flooding in Lyon city centre caused delays of up to 2 hours on SNCF services as well as delays on local public transport.
“This morning in Lyon.” via Facebook @laure.sim.5
