A violent tornado tore through the village of Pomas in southern France on Monday, August 24, injuring 41 people and leaving hundreds of homes damaged as severe thunderstorms swept across the region.
The tornado struck shortly before 17:00 local time in the Aude department, south of Carcassonne, developing rapidly beneath an intense thunderstorm.
Pomas, a community of around 1,000 residents, suffered the most extensive damage. Roofs were ripped from buildings, walls collapsed, trees were uprooted and vehicles were overturned or damaged by flying debris.
🌪️ Autres images très impressionnantes de la tornade qui a circulé au sud de Carcassonne dans l'Aude, depuis la commune de Verzeille. Des dégâts sont signalés. (© Denis Maréchal) pic.twitter.com/RYiuPm0Xt5
— Météo Express (@MeteoExpress) August 24, 2026
Around 300 homes were affected, representing a large proportion of the village’s housing stock. Approximately 100 properties were initially considered potentially uninhabitable, prompting evacuations and structural inspections.
41 injured as the tornado cut through Pomas
The casualty count increased overnight to 41 injured, with 15 people hospitalized.
Two people had initially been reported in critical condition, but authorities said Tuesday that none of the injured remained in a condition causing serious concern.
More than 100 emergency personnel were deployed as crews cleared fallen trees, roof tiles, power lines and other debris from streets.
Electricity supplies were also disrupted across the surrounding area, with thousands of households initially losing power. Emergency accommodation centers were established for residents unable to return home.
The tornado also damaged the local school, while authorities began assessing whether buildings could safely be occupied again.
Winds likely exceeded 200 km/h
The scale of the destruction points to a tornado considerably stronger than the relatively weak funnels occasionally observed across France.
Météo-France meteorologist François Jobard estimated that winds inside the tornado probably exceeded 200 km/h (124 mph).
Separately, Pierre Mahieu, tornado specialist and co-founder of the French severe-weather observatory Keraunos, estimated that winds may have reached or exceeded 200 to 220 km/h (124 to 137 mph).
🌪️ VIDÉO IMPRESSIONNANTE DE LA FORMATION DE CETTE TORNADE DANS L’AUDE, TOUT PRÈS DE CARCASSONNE!!
— vigiprevention_meteo (@VigipreventionM) August 24, 2026
🎥 Vidéo prise par Denis Maréchal, au début de la formation de la tornade entre Verzeille et Pomas.
▶️ La vidéo est accélérée ×3. pic.twitter.com/47vOEKXfmd
A definitive intensity rating requires a detailed damage survey. Tornado wind speeds are rarely measured directly, so investigators typically examine the degree of destruction to buildings, vegetation and other structures to estimate the strength of the vortex.
France records tornadoes every year, but most are considerably weaker. A tornado capable of producing this degree of structural damage in a populated community is much less common.
Why did such a powerful tornado develop?
The tornado arrived during a dramatic change in the weather pattern across southern France.
After a period of intense summer heat, a more unstable air mass moved into the region. Warm, moisture-rich air near the surface provided substantial energy for thunderstorms, while colder air arriving higher in the atmosphere increased instability.
The result was an environment capable of supporting powerful, rapidly developing convection.
Wind shear was another important ingredient. When wind speed and direction change sufficiently with altitude, a thunderstorm’s updraft can begin rotating.
Under the right conditions, that rotation can become concentrated inside an organized severe thunderstorm and eventually extend toward the surface as a tornado.
The Pomas tornado appears to have formed from an exceptionally vigorous storm cell during Monday’s wider outbreak of severe thunderstorms across southern France. Hail and damaging winds were also reported elsewhere as the unstable air mass spread across the region.
🌪️Eyewitness footage recorded from the village of #Verzeille captured a #tornado forming and swirling beneath a violent supercell thunderstorm south of the southern French city of #Carcassonne. https://t.co/tL5GfNBnxLpic.twitter.com/oGurjJdrxi
— ⚡️🌎 World News 🌐⚡️ (@ferozwala) August 25, 2026
📌Authorities reported at least 26… pic.twitter.com/U5AVlVP0iw
A rare level of tornado damage for France
Tornadoes are not unknown in metropolitan France. Several dozen can occur during a typical year, although many are weak, short-lived or pass through sparsely populated areas.
What makes the Pomas event remarkable is the combination of apparent intensity and a direct strike on a village.
The tornado damaged roughly 300 of Pomas’ approximately 500 homes, according to updated reporting, leaving parts of the community covered in broken tiles, timber, masonry and uprooted vegetation.
Cleanup and structural assessments continued Tuesday as evacuated residents waited to learn whether they could safely return home.
Meteorologists will also continue examining the tornado’s path and damage to determine its eventual intensity.
For Pomas, however, the magnitude of the storm is already clear. In only a few minutes, a highly localized vortex transformed an otherwise broader severe-thunderstorm episode into one of France’s most destructive weather events of the summer.
