A British tourist has died after two days of violent storms hitting the Mediterranean. Torrential downpours, hail and winds gusting to 140 mph ripped through parts of the region with more bad weather predicted.
Worst of the conditions were reported in the south of France and island of Corsica. The British woman was among eight people reported to have lost their lives and at least 12 others seriously injured during the storms in France and Italy.
The UK victim is understood to have gone missing while kayaking off Erbalunga, near Bastia. Authorities took part in around 80 rescue operations, mainly aiding pleasure craft off the west coast, which was hit hardest by the freak conditions.
Meanwhile, a five people, including two children, died in heavy storms in Austria. Two girls, aged four and eight, were killed when sudden strong winds toppled trees late on Thursday at a lake in Lavant Valley, near the southern city of Graz.
Officials said 13 people were injured, two of them seriously. Many of the victims were tourists visiting the popular tourist region. Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen called the children’s deaths “an unfathomable tragedy”.
Thousands of tourists were forced to seek shelter in southern France where streets in Marseilles were flooded. In Italy, winds swept through Venice, blowing restaurant furniture across St Mark’s Square and dislodging brickwork from historic buildings.
Two people were killed by falling trees in separate incidents in Tuscany, while coastal resorts in Liguria were damaged by the storms.
In Majorca, torrential rain and hail hit the popular resorts of C'an Picafort and Porto Cristo, while heavy downpours flooded the seafront in Ciutadella in neighbouring Menorca.
Late summer storms have followed exceptionally high temperatures recorded in the Mediterranean during the past few weeks, with thunderstorms more intense and earlier than usual. The fierce rains come amid a summer of drought, heatwaves and forest fires across Europe that scientists link to climate change.
