On Wednesday, the Australian state of Victoria was hit by thunderstorms. The town of Casterton was particularly badly affected, receiving 21mm of rain in just 30 minutes, followed by large hailstones.
Vehicles and properties were severely damaged, with reports of broken windows and tiles blown off roofs due to strong winds.
The hail swath was estimated at 120 miles (200km), affecting vegetation and agricultural land in western Victoria. Some farmers reported that as much as 70% of canola crops were destroyed. Some hail accumulation layers up to 15cm deep were also reported. However, the largest hailstones to have been reported by the Bureau of Meteorology measured 5cm in diameter, and fell in the rural district of Wonwondah at about 8.30pm.
Over the following few days, Australia is likely to experience further severe weather as a cold front sweeps across the country from the west. This will probably bring strong winds and dust storms, alongside further incidents of storms producing large to very large hail across much of the south of the country.
France also experienced severe thunderstorms and very heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday as a trough travelled eastwards over the region. Much of the south of France was put on an orange alert for storms, and parts of central France were on on red alert for flooding over these two days, with some alerts continuing into Friday. Schools were closed from nursery to sixth form as a result.
Frequent lightning was observed alongside hailstorms and strong winds, with more than 100mm of rain being recorded in 24 hours in places, leading to some devastating flooding.
In Istanbul, Turkey, fog caused major disruption earlier this week. Visibility was reduced to less than 500 metres on Wednesday morning, affecting both land and maritime transport. Some ferry services were suspended, and the Eurasian tunnel, which links Europe and Asia under the Bosphorus strait, saw long delays on either side. Consequentially, congestion on both sides of the city was very high.