© AFPHail-damaged apricots at an orchard in La Roche-de-Glun in southeast France on Sunday
Farmers in southeast France counted the costs from lost harvests on Sunday after
a fierce storm battered the region with hail the size of ping-pong balls, decimating orchards and vineyards just as the summer season was kicking into high gear.
"Pretty much my entire harvest is ruined," said Gregory Chardon who grows apricots, peaches and cherries at his farm in La Roche-de-Glun in the Drome department, about an hour's drive south of Lyon.
Even the netting strung over his fields was no match for the tempest of hail which suddenly struck on Saturday afternoon, strewing the ground with damaged fruit and broken branches.
"The damage is enormous and widely spread -- cereals, greenhouse and vegetable farms, and vineyards as well," Chardon said.
In the neighbouring village of Pont-de-L'Isere, Aurelien Esprit showed apricots littering the ground and battered apple trees at his orchards in a Facebook video.
"Unfortunately the season ended for us last night. I don't think I'm going to make it this time," he said.
Comment: Elsewhere across the world in the past week lightning strikes have killed 7 people in Bangladesh, 2 individuals in Kashmir and 12 cattle in Panama.