One dead after ‘mini tornado’ rips through Paris suburb
Powerful winds tore through France’s Val-d’Oise district, killing one and injuring nine others as the rare weather event left a trail of destruction.
The moment a 'mini tornado' ripped through the suburbs of Paris, killing one person and injuring nine others, has been caught on camera.
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A 23-year-old construction worker was killed and nine others injured, four critically, after powerful winds swept through suburban communities on Sunday evening.
The winds toppled trees and damaged homes, with local officials saying the wind struck without warning as heavy rain moved across northern France.
Three large cranes collapsed during the storm – one of them onto a care facility and another onto a residential building.
Philippe Court, the head of the Val-d’Oise prefecture, described it as “a sudden and violent windy episode.”
Tempêtes à Ermont les grues tombe pic.twitter.com/5AOIXu23cD
— hakim.9212 (@MKH93LND) October 20, 2025
Local emergency crews worked through the night to secure damaged structures and clear debris from the streets. Around 150 firefighters, along with police and medical teams, were deployed in the area.
The storm also damaged power lines and left over a thousand homes without electricity.
The public have been urged to stay away from wooded areas and damaged sites.
Authorities described the event as being of “rare intensity,” with strong winds sweeping through towns including Ermont, Eaubonne and Franconville.
Meteorologists say the tornado formed part of a larger storm system moving east across northern France, with much of the country being battered by wind and rain for the past week.
An investigation is under way to assess the full extent of the damage and to determine whether the tornado reached F2 intensity on the Fujita scale.
Around 40 to 50 tornadoes are recorded each year in France, but they are usually weak and rarely cause serious damage or loss of life. The last major one came in 2008 in Hautmont, near the Belgian border, and killed three people.
Strong winds are expected to continue into Tuesday, with gusts of 50–60km/h forecast in parts of southwest France.