Saint-Étienne Tornado Overturns Two Trucks on the A72 Motorway

The sky darkened within minutes before powerful winds swept across northern Saint-Étienne on Thursday evening. A rotating weather system, described in local reports as a small tornado, crossed areas around Villars and Saint-Priest-en-Jarez.

Two trucks overturned on the A72 motorway near the Ratarieux exit, on the road from Saint-Étienne towards Clermont-Ferrand. The incident caused major traffic disruption, but no injuries were reported.

Residents filmed the Saint-Étienne tornado

People in neighbourhoods north of the city saw a dark column moving beneath the storm clouds. Videos spread quickly online and searches for the “Saint-Étienne tornado” rose sharply during the evening.

The winds brought down branches, moved outdoor equipment and damaged local installations. Emergency crews secured the motorway before the trucks could be recovered and debris removed from the road.

Traffic on the A72 resumed later that evening. In nearby communities, residents continued checking roofs, gardens and parked vehicles after the storm had passed.

A short but unusually violent storm

The Loire department had been placed under an orange thunderstorm alert. Forecasts warned of hail and wind gusts that could reach around 100 kilometres per hour. Hot air left by the heatwave met a cooler air mass, creating fast-moving and highly localised storms.

Meteorologists will still need to examine the available images and damage before formally confirming that the event was a tornado. For drivers on the A72 and residents north of Saint-Étienne, however, the force of the storm was immediately clear.