Tornado injures 39 and damages hundreds of homes in southwest France

Dozens have been injured and more than 300 homes damaged after a tornado swept through a small village in southwestern France.

Two people are in critical condition after the cyclone pushed through the village of Pomas in the Aude region late on Monday, with 37 others injured, French officials said.

No missing persons have been reported so far. Energy grid operator ENEDIS said around 21,000 households were without power in southern France by the morning.

Interior minister Laurent Nunez called the tornado one of "rare intensity" on X, saying it was "severely damaging" to the village.

Footage showed the tornado swirling overhead in the nearby village of Verzeille late on Monday.

It came as the Aude region, and much of the southwest, was under an orange warning for thunderstorms, which has since expired, according to Meteo France.

That follows a summer of extreme heat across France and much of Europe, with the southwest struck by record-breaking wildfires.

The Gironde wildfire in France's southwest last month burnt an area of 42,000 hectares - one of the largest forest fires since the Second World War.

While tornadoes are relatively common in France, they are much milder than in the US or elsewhere.

English-language French outlet The Connexion reported last March that the country sees an estimated 50 tornadoes every year - mainly in spring and summer, and mostly in the northwest and the Mediterranean coastal area.

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Emmanuel Wesolek, president of French storm observatory Keraunos, also told 20 Minutes last March that many of France's weakest tornadoes - rated EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale of tornado intensity - tend to happen at night, go largely unnoticed, and do not cause damage.

(c) Sky News 2026: Tornado injures 39 and damages hundreds of homes in southwest France