A tornado hit the village of Pomas, located south of Carcassonne in the Aude department of southwest France, on Monday, August 24. The storm injured several people and damaged hundreds of homes. At the time, the region was under an orange alert for thunderstorms, indicating a high risk of severe weather. A tornado is a powerful, rotating column of air that touches the ground and extends from a thunderstorm. These storms form when specific conditions are met, including wind shear—changes in wind speed and direction with altitude. This wind shear can cause the air to rotate, and if lifted by strong updrafts within the storm, it can develop into a tornado. In rare cases, like the one on August 24, the entire storm can rotate, creating a "supercellular storm" with a large, rotating updraft known as a "mesocyclone." The conditions that led to the August 24 tornado were influenced by typical late-summer weather patterns. The Mediterranean Sea, currently experiencing a "marine heatwave" with temperatures averaging around 28°C and reaching over 30°C in some areas, provided extra energy for thunderstorms. A low-pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean brought hot, humid air into France, creating unstable atmospheric conditions. Additionally, the wind patterns over southeastern France on that day were especially conducive to the rotation needed for tornado formation. The impact of climate change on tornado frequency is still unclear. While warmer temperatures can increase humidity and provide more energy for thunderstorms, tornadoes are rare in Europe, and there is no comprehensive network to track them. This makes it difficult to determine if tornadoes are becoming more frequent or intense due to climate change. Moreover, increased awareness and better technology may lead to more tornado reports, making it harder to distinguish between actual trends and changes in observation. Predicting tornadoes remains a complex task. While meteorologists can identify general conditions that may lead to tornadoes a day or two in advance, pinpointing the exact time, location, and strength of a tornado is not currently possible. In the United States, advanced radar systems and storm chasers can provide warnings with just a few minutes of lead time. However, Europe lacks the same level of infrastructure, including radar networks and specialized meteorologists, making early warnings less reliable at the national level.