AKIPRESS.COM - France will declare a state of natural disaster after rain and hail storms lashed a swathe of the south-east on Saturday, devastating crops, The Guardian reports.

The flash storms, which brought hailstones as big as pingpong balls to some areas, killed two people in France and Switzerland, and injured at least 10 others.

The worst-hit area, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alps region, is at the heart of France’s food production and known as the “orchard of France”.

Didier Guillaume, the agriculture minister, said the government would organise a “general mobilisation” and introduce emergency measures to deal with what he described as a catastrophe for farmers.

“Everything will be done to help. The state of natural disaster will be declared,” Guillaume told French television. “The goal is that no farmers will have to shut down business.”