Wish you were here? Madrid is lashed with storms, floods and hail while brutal gales hammer France and Switzerland amid wild weather extremes across Europe - as Britain basks in 30C heat

Wild upwind continues to grip Europe with Spain and France being lashed by freak summertime storms and flash floods astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Britain bakes successful a 30C heatwave.

Madrid was plunged into chaos yesterday arsenic bluish skies gave mode to hail, torrential rainfall and precocious winds, with temperatures dropping from astir 33C (91 degrees Fahrenheit) to 19C (66 degrees Fahrenheit) wrong minutes. 

Huge trees were brought crashing down and locals and holidaymakers had to instrumentality refuge successful bars and store entrances pursuing the melodramatic upwind change, portion floodwater rushed into underground stations and covered the roads.

Meanwhile successful Grenoble, torrents of h2o swept done the streets and poured into people's homes arsenic torrential rainfall and hail dumped connected France's Rhone-Alpes region. Over the borderline successful Swtizerland, a municipality connected Lake Geneva was wholly flooded.

At the aforesaid time, overmuch of occidental Europe is facing soaring temperatures supra 30C - including the UK, with a vigor wellness alert being issued crossed astir of England.

Yesterday, the hottest somesthesia recorded was successful Herstmonceux, adjacent Eastbourne, successful East Sussex wherever temperatures provisionally deed 29.4C - the hottest upwind recorded successful the UK truthful acold this year.

That made it hotter than Torremolinos connected the Spain's Costa Blanca wherever temperatures reached 29C (84.92 F) oregon Kos successful Greece with the aforesaid temperature.

France's Met Office said yesterday that the hottest somesthesia of the twelvemonth has been recorded successful Paris - 30.3C - the archetypal clip successful 2024 the 30C people has been met successful the French capital.

It said that maximums are arsenic overmuch arsenic 6C supra the seasonal norm successful the northbound of the country. 

Spain has besides seen blistery temperatures crossed the country, but past nighttime a upwind strategy moved successful which saw a immense tempest unleashed connected the country's capital.

Some underground stations successful the Spanish superior were affected by flooding with conduit trains delayed.

Stairs starring into Canal Station connected the Madrid Metro's enactment 7 were transformed into a stream with astonished onlookers taking videos of the scene.

There were nary contiguous reports of immoderate injuries, though shocking footage shows trees, motorbikes and different objects taken down by the precocious winds. 

One shocked Madrid nonmigratory took to societal media to accidental of the hailstones that fell: 'They wounded my head.'

Another said: 'The tempest successful Madrid seemed similar the extremity of the world. It's the fiercest tempest I've ever seen here.'

One Madrid resident, posting a video showing a pavement transformed into a stream wherever a histrion was connected the crushed alongside a fallen edifice paper display, wrote connected X: 'How horrible! My 3 friends and I astir died.'

Another, Francisco Sanchez, described what happened arsenic 'completely unexpected' and 'the extremity of the world'.

Spanish upwind bureau Aemet had warned the unchangeable upwind of the past fewer days could springiness mode to storms with hail crossed ample parts of the country, but the chaotic upwind inactive came arsenic a daze to many.

Shocking videos person besides been shared of flooding successful the southeast of France, wherever the heavens opened with hail and torrential rainfall yesterday evening.

Residents successful the Rhone-Alpes portion were forced indoors arsenic floodwater rushed done the streets, with footage taken from a model showing the unsafe torrent successful 1 village.

Denis Metral from L'Albenc shared the video connected societal media, and said that the h2o had entered his store and was 40cm high.

A section upwind tract wrote connected X (translated): 'Difficult concern astatine the commencement of the evening successful L'Albenc (between Tullins and Vinay) during the stationary tempest which affected the sector. 

'Estimates bespeak cumulative precipitation of betwixt 60 and 90 mm successful these sectors.'

Cars person besides been filmed driving done heavy floodwater successful the region, and implicit the borderline successful Swtizerland, which was besides battered by brutal storms.

The mountainous territory of Vaud was inundated by dense rainfall which forecasters called 'exceptional' and 'unexpected'.

Around 1 month's rainfall is believed to person fallen successful conscionable an hr and caused large flooding successful the municipality of Morges, connected the banks of Lake Geneva, The Local reports, with one news tract labelling it the 'flood of a century'.

It comes aft large flooding connected a upland successful Isère swept distant a span and a chalet, section media reports.

The colony of Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans was abandoned past week aft the floodwaters smashed into it, with astatine slightest 100 locals evacuated by helicopter.

Dramatic aerial footage of the country from contiguous shows waves continuing to lavation done the hamlet, with a TV unit observing a location gutted by the unit of the current. 

A fortnight agone ample swathes of eastbound Spain and the Balearic Islands were buffeted by torrential rain.

The freak upwind led to the suspension of mean operations astatine Palma Airport successful Majorca, with planes diverted to Menorca, Ibiza and Barcelona.

One of the airport's work escaped shops had to adjacent aft rainfall came done the ceiling.

In San Antonio successful Ibiza the gutters overflowed successful immoderate parts of the town, leaving holidaymakers having to measurement implicit quality waste.

The provinces of Murcia and Alicante were besides severely affected, with cars swept down streets during flash floods.