France

Storm and high wind

Vérifié 2026-07-26

Utilisation à vos risques. Contenu éducatif et de recherche, ne remplace pas un médecin. Vérifiez les numéros et les règles du pays où vous vous trouvez. Ils changent. Avant de vous fier à ces fiches en pratique, faites-les relire par un professionnel de santé ou un spécialiste de la sécurité incendie. Avertissement

Cette fiche n'est pas encore traduite, le texte ci-dessous est donc en anglais. Les numéros d'urgence et les mentions légales de cette page sont bien locaux.

Faites ceci tout de suite

Get indoors before the storm arrives, away from windows, and stay out from under trees, scaffolding and loose roofs.

A storm kills with what it throws: branches, tiles, scaffolding, glass, and with lightning that reaches ten kilometres ahead of the rain. Thunder you can hear means you are already in range, and the last minutes before the front is the worst time to be finishing anything outdoors.

Étape par étape

When a warning comes, bring in or tie down everything loose: furniture, trampolines, bins, and park the car away from trees.
Charge phones and powerbanks, and know where your torch is before the lights go out.
During the storm stay inside, away from windows, best in an inner room. Keep children and pets in.
Hear thunder outdoors: get into a building or a hard-topped car. No shelter means crouch low in a hollow, feet together, away from lone trees, poles, fences and water.
Postpone driving. If it catches you, slow right down, hands firm on the wheel for the gusts, and never stop under trees or power lines.
After the front passes wait, most trees and tiles fall in the gusts after. Treat every downed cable as live, twenty metres of distance.
Damage without injury goes to the fire service line when the network calms, injuries and immediate danger go to 112 now.

Ne faites jamais cela

Never shelter under a tree in a thunderstorm, and never keep the golf round, the harvest run or the roof job going for one more minute.
Never touch downed lines or anything they touch, wires, fences, puddles.
Never go for a look at the sea or the riverbank in a storm. Waves take people from piers every year.

Appelez les secours si

Anyone injured by lightning, falling debris or glass. Lightning victims are safe to touch, start CPR if needed.
A tree or structure fallen on a person, vehicle or occupied house.
A downed power line, and fire caused by a strike.

Questions fréquentes

How far away is the lightning?

Count seconds from flash to thunder and divide by three for kilometres. Under thirty seconds means take shelter now, and stay there thirty minutes after the last thunder.

Is a car safe in a thunderstorm?

A hard-topped car is good protection, the metal shell carries the current around you. Park away from trees, keep hands off metal parts and radio aerials. Convertibles, bikes and tractors do not count.