Tornado tears through French village, injuring at least 41

A severe tornado struck the village of Pomas in southwestern France on August 24, 2026, injuring 41 people and damaging approximately 300 homes. The storm prompted orange alerts, left 2,800 homes without power, and severely disrupted regional transport, including flights and train services. More than 120 emergency workers deployed to assist Pomas, where winds reached 117 km/h. The event followed intense summer heatwaves, though Meteo-France notes the impact of global warming on tornado frequency remains unclear.

Pomas tornado damage

• ▪A tornado struck the village of Pomas in southwestern France on August 24, 2026, damaging approximately 300 homes and ripping roofs off some properties.
• ▪Social media footage verified by Reuters showed the tornado swirling above the village of Verzeille in the Aude department on August 24, 2026, smashing windows of homes in its path.
• ▪The tornado in Pomas on August 24, 2026, uprooted trees, damaged cars, and left rubble from destroyed homes.

Tornado casualties

• ▪The tornado in southwestern France on August 24, 2026, injured 41 people, with 15 of the injured individuals taken to the hospital.
• ▪A pregnant woman was hospitalized after her house collapsed on her during the tornado in Pomas on August 24, 2026.

Southwestern France storm disruptions

• ▪French authorities placed swathes of southwestern France on an orange alert for storms on August 24, 2026, amid widespread power outages and transport chaos.
• ▪French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot stated that storms on August 24, 2026, delayed trains, closed roads, and caused flight delays and cancellations at airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, and Paris.
• ▪Storms across southern France on August 24, 2026, left an estimated 2,800 homes without electricity across 10 villages.
• ▪Officials cancelled the third stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race in the Aude department on August 24, 2026, after a hailstorm forced riders to seek shelter.

Emergency response deployment

• ▪Emergency services in Pomas assessed damage, helped residents secure homes, and cleared roof tiles and debris following the August 24, 2026 tornado.
• ▪Local authorities deployed more than 120 emergency workers to Pomas following the tornado on August 24, 2026, to assist with rescue and recovery efforts.

Climate change uncertainty

• ▪The tornado in southern France arose as an intense summer heatwave gave way to thunderstorms during the week of August 24, 2026.
• ▪The August 24, 2026 storms followed a summer of unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires in Europe, which burned 42,000 hectares in southwestern France in one of the largest forest fires since World War II.
• ▪Meteo-France stated that the impact of global warming on the frequency and intensity of tornadoes in France remains unclear.
• ▪France experiences an average of several dozen tornadoes per year, according to the national weather service Meteo-France.

8 sources