Freak weather kills German farmer

The giant hailstones smashed through car windscreens

A freak hailstorm and heavy rain in south-west Germany has left one man dead and about one hundred injured.

Police said a farmer drowned as he tried to move his herd following flash floods near Offenburg, in the Black Forest region of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Some 100 people were hurt, mostly with cuts to the head, when hailstones said to be the size of tennis balls fell in Villingen-Schwenningen.

Severe weather also damaged many cars and wrecked a bridge in the region.

Emergency services said many people had to be taken to hospital for treatment, the AFP news agency reported.

"It looks like a war has hit us," a fireman was quoted as saying.

Many homes were left without electricity.

Residents told Reuters news agency it was one of the worst storms they had experienced.

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Your comments:

I'm currently living and working in Villingen and was caught out in this last night. It started as a normal thunderstorm and shower then just got worse. At first the hail was like any other, then it just got bigger and heavier until the hailstones were the size of fruit. Trees were stripped of leaves, cars have the complexion of golf balls, about half have lost windscreens or rear windows. Roof tiles have been smashed like plates on some buildings. Even traffic lights and street lights have been smashed.

After the storm I went to have a look and people were standing around talking, covering cars and roofs with tarpaulins, sweeping the broken tiles off the pavement. This also happened here four years ago, but there is little that can be done to prepare for something like this.
Charles Tye, Villingen, Germany