Saturday was the "darkest day" of the year so far in France, the national weather service reported. The phenomenon was caused by storm clouds forming a "supercell" over the north east of the country. 

And when the clouds burst, the rain caused flooding across the region. 

One police station near Paris was flooded - and a video filmed by a member of staff showed a torrent of water passing under cell doors and through the building.

The storm had previously caused flooding and damage in the Netherlands. 

Although it lost most of its energy as it moved south, forecasters published "high wind" warnings for much of the east of the nation, including several Alpine regions.