Storms batter Switzerland, injuring 40 people with hail

A powerful storm front unleashed severe weather across parts of Switzerland, leaving a trail of damage and injuring around 40 people, mostly children, in the canton of Zurich due to heavy hail. Several of the injured required treatment in hospitals.

The storm's impact was felt across western and northwestern Switzerland. Train services between Biel and Olten were interrupted. The weather service SRF Meteo recorded approximately 46,000 lightning strikes in a short period. Two bands of intense hail, with stones measuring up to six centimeters in diameter, moved from the Basel region towards Lake Constance.

In the canton of Schaffhausen, wind gusts reached speeds of up to 142 kilometers per hour. The canton of Aargau experienced the storm's force as four massive concrete high-voltage pylons were toppled. On the A1 highway, a truck was overturned, though the driver escaped unharmed. The canton of Solothurn was also heavily affected, with the local police reporting over 200 damage reports by mid-morning. A woman sustained serious injuries when a tree fell on her.