Widespread heavy rainfall across the country led to numerous instances of fallen trees, flooded basements, and other significant damage between 7pm and midnight on Saturday.
Luxembourg was placed under an orange alert from 8 pm to midnight on Saturday, as reported by Meteolux, signaling imminent violent storms.
Paul Schroeder, Director General of the Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS), reported on Sunday morning to our colleagues at RTL that initial assessments indicated no injuries resulting from the recent thunderstorm. The incidents primarily stemmed from flooded cellars, fallen trees, and wind-blown objects.
Police reported around 190 incidents of road obstructions, such as trees or other debris, with 20 accidents resulting in material damage.
Schroeder noted that thanks to favourable weather forecasts, CGDIS was well-prepared. Teams at the emergency number 112 were bolstered in advance, though the call volume surged nearly fourfold within hours – approaching 3,000 calls, significantly higher than usual.
By 6pm, all regional centres were alerted about the storm's expected impact on the Grand Duchy.
Schroeder confirmed that the southern region, notably Pétange, Sanem, and Differdange, bore the brunt of the storm, accounting for about a third of all incident reports.
On Sunday morning, a wave of calls flooded 112 as residents woke to assess the damage, keeping CGDIS crews busy throughout the day.
By late Sunday morning, the water authorities declared the flood risk mitigated, prompting the lifting of the vigilance phase shortly after 11am.
The airport was closed for a short time
Due to the weather conditions, Lux-Airport briefly suspended ground handling operations on Saturday evening for safety reasons. Technically, the airport was open and operational, but planes were diverted to Liège and Frankfurt.
Throughout the evening, numerous images were sent to us, illustrating the severity of the storms.
The weather in Feulen is said to have been worse than in many other places in the country. In this corner of the country, close to Ettelbruck, the wind in particular caused major damage. Videos circulating on social media show a small shed lying completely destroyed on the street.
The situation was particularly critical in Differdange, with part of the town under water, flooded cellars and, above all, incredible scenes filmed by local residents:
In Rue d'Athus in Linger in the municipality of Käerjeng, 3 cellars and garages, among others, were flooded. Many cars could no longer be moved. The fire brigade was on site on Sunday morning.
© RTL
The street 'an de Jenken' was also affected, where many people had water in their cellars. According to the site, the ground was saturated within a short time.
The forecasted rainfall of 30 to 40 litres per square metre, accompanied by gusts up to 100 km/h, was confirmed by Luca Mathias from Meteolux. This abundant rain caused rapid increases in water levels in small streams and local flooding, prompting repeated warnings from authorities throughout the day.
Due to these adverse weather conditions, several events in Luxembourg were either cancelled or postponed. In the evening, the Storm Risk Assessment Cell (CERI) issued a text message alerting the public about the storms. However, not everyone received the following message:
