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A THUNDERSTORM unleashed golf ball-sized hail and torrential rain across Austria – after a trail of destruction in France.
The terrifying supercell storm whipped through towns, shattering windows, flooding streets and causing nearly £8m worth of damage to agriculture.
Powerful thunderstorms battered Austria on Thursday, with the national weather agency Ubimet issuing the highest-level warnings in some areas, according to Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
The hardest-hit regions were reportedly Styria, Tyrol, and Lower Austria.
In Innsbruck, western Austria, hailstones up to 1.6 inches fell, while Tannheim in the Tyrolean Alps recorded over 60 litres of rain per square metre.
Lightning strikes also caused fires in some places – in Wörgl, lightning set a family home ablaze, Die Presse reports.
The Tyrol fire department responded to around 150 calls, mostly due to fallen trees and water damage.
Fügen, in the Zillertal valley, experienced a severe hailstorm that flooded streets.
Wind gusts reached 70 mph in Micheldorf, Upper Austria.
Kurt Weinberger, chairman of the Austrian Hail Insurance, said the storms caused major damage to agriculture, according to Die Presse.
He said: “Based on initial assessments by our experts, the total agricultural damage from yesterday’s storm amounts to nine million euros (£7.7m).”
Austrian meteorologist Manuel Oberhuber posted a video of the intense storm in Tyrol on X, writing: “One of the most powerful thunderstorms struck the Lower Inn Valley in Tyrol yesterday.
“A “right-moving” supercell produced 2-inch hail, torrential rain and severe wind gusts, as seen here in the Fügen area.
“Many windows were shattered.”
In a separate post, Oberhuber explained: “The hail analysis shows the path of the supercell.”
“You can clearly see that it veers sharply to the right, heading east, compared to the thunderstorm just north of it.
“A deviation from the normal movement direction can occur with strong wind shear and often leads to especially intense storms…”
Meanwhile, in France, at least two people – including a child – died after a violent storm caused flash floods in Paris.
The storm produced 39,000 lightning strikes across the country.
In the Dordogne region of southwest France, huge hailstones damaged roofs during the peak of the storms.
Around 70 buildings were damaged in the commune of Belvès alone, The Telegraph reports.
Tragically, in southern France, a falling tree killed a 12-year-old boy.
