While nine departments in the south-east are currently on orange alert, many cities, such as Lyon or Saint-Étienne, suffered violent storms and heavy rainfall, sometimes accompanied by hail, this Wednesday, August 17.
This Wednesday, August 17, in its 7 p.m. bulletin, Meteo France placed nine southeastern French departments on orange alert for thunderstorms. During the day, disturbances fell in several cities, including in the center-east and near the Mediterranean, accompanied by intense showers, strong gusts of wind or even hail.
In the Rhône-Alpes region, in the south-eastern quarter of France, violent storms crossed the cities of Lyon and Saint-Étienne. These phenomena were accompanied by gusts of wind that could reach 130 km/h.
Au CHU de Saint Etienne, the storm broke through the doors of the building. On images posted on social networks, we can see hail exceeding the entrance to the hospital by a few meters.
Images of the storm accompanied by hail & strong winds that hit the north of Saint-Étienne, here from the CHU. This storm is now affecting the Lyonnais! (© Renaud Demesmay) pic.twitter.com/oVwUapb4Dc
— Weather Express (@WeatherExpress) August 17, 2022
The accumulation of hail also caused temperatures to drop and disrupted traffic. Some cars got stuck on the road in the middle of a “white zone”.
Bon @STAS_Official it will be difficult to pass! pic.twitter.com/qHNP0n1hSC
— BikeGaga (@BikeGaga) August 17, 2022
The violent storms then moved towards Lyon. The prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Rhône region has invited residents to limit their movements and not to take shelter under an umbrella, trees or against a wall.
In Feyzin and Saint-Priest, in the Metropolis of Lyon, heavy rains and hailstones caused urban flooding. The phenomenon was accompanied by gusts of wind up to 100 km/h.
Here we go again #thunderstorms #Lyon pic.twitter.com/vQWsjSBCEm
— david lyon (@davidbonnet14) August 17, 2022
A few minutes of storm and it gives this #thunderstorms #Lyon #StPriest Cc @leprogreslyon pic.twitter.com/H5MRQEOyMg
– LiSa_MaGGio (@LisouDimaggio) August 17, 2022