The Telegraph

Giant hailstones kill toddler and injure 30

The Telegraph logo The Telegraph 31.08.2022 11:36:40 Gerard Couzens
Hail stones around four inches in diameter - ASA/GC/SM

A toddler has died after being hit by a huge hail stone during a horror storm in Spain.

The 20-month-old girl was one of 30 people hurt after receiving direct impacts from hail stones around four inches in diameter in and around the Catalan town of La Bisbal de l'Emporda.

She was rushed to Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona on Tuesday afternoon but died hours later.

A woman remained in the same hospital today because of the injuries she suffered in the devastating hailstorm.

Most of the other 28 people who needed medical treatment are said to have suffered head injuries or cuts from the ice that needed stitches as well as broken bones.

Many cars were also damaged by the tennis ball-size stones.

QUINA BARBARITAT... Un altre vídeo d'aquest vespre a casa un amic, a la Bisbal d'Empordà. Sembla Oklahoma. Descomunal ???????????? @eltempsTV3 @enricagud @Oriol_RB @Jordisolerramio @meteofarnell @meteocat @TomeuRigoR pic.twitter.com/ONrWbCsePr

Catalan weather chiefs said the hailstones that fell in the area, near the tourist city of Girona close to Spain's north-east border with France, were the largest in twenty years.

The nationality of the toddler who died, and where exactly she was when she was hit by the hailstones that killed her, is not yet known.

The deadliest-known hailstorm in history was the one that lashed the Indian city of Moradabad in 1888.

Nearly 250 people were killed after being hit by hail the size of oranges.

The record for the largest hailstone is one that fell in Vivian, South Dakota in 2010.

It weighed around 878 grams and measured nearly eight inches in diameter.

Tourists travelling to Spain were warned earlier this month they could be caught up in rare Mediterranean hurricanes.

Experts said the risk of tropical-like cyclones called medicanes had increased with this year's record heat waves affecting the UK's favourite holiday destination and the rise in sea temperatures blamed on global warming.

Oceanographer and weather expert Yurima Celdran, a marine sciences graduate who went on to do a masters degree in meteorology, said: "Higher Mediterranean temperatures provide a greater source of energy for medicanes and amplify their destructivity.

"Sea temperatures this autumn are expected to be higher than normal and if the necessary atmosphere conditions are in place, it would not be unreasonable to think the Mediterranean could harbour a medicane this year."

Torrential rain, terrifying lightning storms and flash floods in September 2019 which battered the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, claimed the lives of seven people.

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mercredi 31 août 2022 14:36:40 Categories: The Telegraph

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