Severe hail in France: reconstruction of Storm Ela’s and late June 2022 hailstorms

Hail is by far the greatest contributor to insured losses from severe convective storms on an annual basis. Individual severe convective storm outbreaks can cause hail losses well above EUR 1 bn. In May and June 2022 a series of such events impacted France, Germany and Belgium. Of these, those occurring on 19-22 June 2022 were particularly damaging as they hit the large metropolitan region of Ile-de-France. There were many reports of large hailstones, causing significant damage to property and motor vehicle. Total insured hail loss estimates in France alone exceeded EUR 2.4 bn, of which EUR 1.34 bn of property loss and EUR 1.08 bn of motor vehicle loss. These were the largest hail events in France in terms of losses since Storm Ela’s, which on 9-10 June 2014 resulted in insured hail losses in excess of 900 mn in 2021 EUR.

Common denominator to these two impactful events were persistent meteorological situations conducive to large-scale severe convective storms for several consecutive days. These compounded with local conditions favorable for the development of severe hail. Maximum hailstone sizes of 12 cm in diameter were observed in the administrative regions of Centre-Val-De-Loire (Ela) and Occitanie (June 2022). In this study we present a reconstruction of these events based on eye-witness reports cross-referenced with weather radar data. We analyze the synoptic configurations and pre-convective environments that characterized them, with particular focus on those properties and features that are peculiar to severe hail-forming thunderstorms. These event reconstructions are part of our effort to construct a Realistic Disaster Scenario (RDS) model for France and Belgium to stress test both individual client portfolios and the market as a whole.