Violent storm batters France, Switzerland and Italy — dozens injured

A violent storm system ripped across parts of western and southern Europe on 27–28 August 2026, producing record-sized hail, hurricane-force gusts and extensive damage that left dozens injured in France, Switzerland and Italy.

Severe hail and 145 km/h wind gusts

In Switzerland the worst effects were reported north of Zurich, where gusts reached about 145 km/h and hail as large as 8 cm in diameter fell in some places. A group of kindergarten children on a forest outing near Zurich were struck by large hailstones; several suffered head injuries after being hit by pieces of ice the size of tennis balls. The storm also tore away mobile boarding stairs at Zurich Airport and forced the cancellation of more than 85 Swiss airline departures. Road traffic was disrupted by overturned lorries and hundreds of households experienced power outages.

Across France, powerful gusts knocked pedestrians off their feet and sent trees bending at sharp angles in the Paris suburbs. Video shared on social media showed rain and hail driven almost horizontally by the wind, and passengers in a Paris commuter train panicked when a window shattered under the storm’s force. Large hail — reported up to 8 cm in diameter between Besançon and Baume-les-Dames — smashed windscreens and left visible damage to vehicles on highways.

In northern Italy the town of Cremona was hit by a destructive tornado on the afternoon of 28 August 2026. The vortex damaged parts of the cathedral and the city hall roof, uprooted or broke dozens of centuries-old trees and struck parked cars. More than 40 people were reported injured in the incident; emergency services cleared fallen trees from streets and worked to reopen key roads.

Meteorologists say the onslaught of extreme storms followed several weeks of tropical heat waves across Europe that already caused economic losses in the region. Authorities in the affected areas continued damage assessments and recovery operations on 28 August and warned residents to expect further unstable weather in the days that followed.

Scenes from the affected areas — from smashed shopfronts and damaged roofs to international flight cancellations and emergency crews clearing debris — circulated widely on social media on 27 and 28 August 2026, underscoring the storm’s rapid development and the scale of destruction across multiple countries.

Photo: press material from the event