Thunderstorms Northern France

[Village]

Had dinner in Paris last night and the Eurostar punched through three batches of thunderstorms with torrential rain and lightning at about 5pm local time. The sky was clear blue at Calais and the Kent coast, but within a few km's inland in France there were towering Cumulonimbus cells which looked very aggressive. The bases had ragged shelf cloud and I could see one or two lowering areas it the base where there was potentially some rotation. I am sure I did see one or two funnels in the early stages but probably didnt make it.

In Paris it was mainly dry, just a few smatterings and flashes of lightning into the small hours. The main activity was to the north between Calais and Paris. It was fascinating screaming along at aircraft speeds on the ground and experiencing one storm after another within minutes. The cloud scene and aspects were changing every ten seconds or so. It was very warm and humid in Paris with temps around 26C.

Here are a few images from the train taken between Calais and Lille yesterday at about 4:30 pm local time.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Village