Heavy storms forecast for heatwave-hit France
As France sweltered under a sudden heatwave, weather forecasters predicted heavy storms with rain and hail in on Friday night. Hail, high winds and heavy raind are expected to hit much of the country, including Paris and the west.
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At the end of a week of confusing weather, going from heavy rain to scorching heat, official weather-watcher Météo France predicted summer storms in large parts of the country on Friday night.
Temperatures soared on Thursday to above the seasonal average, approaching 40°C in Aquitaine in the west of the country, and continued to rise on Friday with Paris and central France hottest at about 36°C.
But the brilliant sunshine is not expected to last.
Heavy storms are forecast to hit western France on Friday evening, travelling east overnight and hitting a belt of the country stretching from Picardy and Paris to Languedoc and the Pyrenees.
The summer storms should mean heavy rain, thunder, lightning and a return of the hail that devastated vineyards in Bordeaux and Burgundy and damaged homes and public buildings last month.
Winds could reach 100km per hour in some parts of the country.
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