A TORNADO TORE through a village in southern France on Monday, injuring 41 people and damaging hundreds of homes, authorities said.

French authorities had placed swathes of the country’s south on orange alert for storms, and numerous areas were hit by power outages and transport chaos.

In the Aude department, officials cancelled the third stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race, which was being held in the area, when a hailstorm forced riders to seek shelter.

Two shelters have been opened for those affected in Pomas. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The tornado hit hardest in the village of Pomas, population 1,000, damaging an estimated 300 homes, in some cases ripping their roofs off.

More than 120 emergency workers were deployed to the scene, local authorities said.

🌪️ 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

Fifteen of the injured were taken to hospital.

They included a pregnant woman who was hurt when her house collapsed on her, her husband told AFP.

A lorry flipped over by the tornado in Pomas Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The national weather service, Meteo-France, said winds had reached up to 117 kilometres per hour in the nearby village of Arquettes-en-Val.

Storms across southern France upended the transportation network, delaying trains, forcing road closures, and causing delays and cancellations at airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and even Paris to the north, said Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.

Some of the damage caused by the tornado in Pomas Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

An estimated 2,800 homes were left without electricity across 10 villages, officials said.

France sees several dozen tornadoes per year on average.

The impact of global warming on their frequency and intensity is unclear, according to Meteo-France.