Watch: Violent hailstorm smashes windshields of moving cars in Italian highway

The storm hit part of the northern stretch of the road between Milan and Naples, leaving scores of commuters stranded and injured.

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Although several cars were damaged, no one was very severely injured.

A violent hailstorm in Italy recently brought traffic to a halt after huge hailstones smashed through car windows and screens. The unusual incident caused some rear-end collisions in country’s one of the major highways, trigging chaos and panic among citizens.

Video footages going viral showed many damaged cars blocking the main way, while commuters got out to seek help. The storm-hit part of the northern stretch of the road between Milan and Naples, which runs for almost 500 miles – saw people cowering in their cars from the violent hail, The Independent reported.

Due to the violent hailstorm that struck the section between Parma and Fiorenzuola (Piacenza), towards Milan, the road was also temporarily closed to facilitate the intervention of emergency vehicles, local media Corriere di Bologna reported.

A clip showed a long traffic snarl on the expressway with scores of cars and trucks standing impacted by the storm. The aftermath video showed, most vehicles with not just shattered windshield but also dents on the bonnet as well. According to The Guardian, while a number of people were hurt, mainly by glass shards from cracked windshields, no one is believed to have been seriously injured.

According to local reports, it wasn’t just the highway that was affected. Strong gust of wind also uprooted many big trees in nearby areas, and injured several others. Bad weather also led to accidents to people staying indoors as the big hailstones also broke down through windows and roofs of people’s homes harming the homeowners.

Impressive hail storm currently ongoing in northern Italy.

Looking like meteorites fall pic.twitter.com/qSlw4VULic

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) July 26, 2021

While hailstorms ravaged mainland Italy, forest fires forced at least 900 people from their homes in central Sardinia, Sky News said. France and Greece sent four planes to help put out the wildfires, which consumed around 20,000 hectares in the Italian province of Oristano.