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Village street under a dark storm cloud with hail, a person watching from a sheltered doorway

A hailstorm is coming or has caught me out

The sky turns dark, then it starts to rattle: hailstones bounce across the road. A roof overhead and distance from glass – usually that is all it takes.

First

  1. Go into a solid building and stay there, away from windows, glass doors and skylights.
  2. In the car: slow down, stop safely off the carriageway and stay in the car – face away from the windows.
  3. Outdoors without shelter: head for the nearest building and protect your head with a backpack or your arms until then; avoid isolated trees and masts.
  4. Hail usually comes with a thunderstorm: the rules against lightning apply too.

Call emergency services if

  • Someone has been injured by hail or broken glass
  • Lightning has struck near people
  • Water is pouring into the house or people are cut off by water
  • Trees or lines have fallen onto a road or house

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What is happening

Hail usually falls from strong thunderstorms. In the strong updrafts of the thundercloud, water droplets freeze and keep growing until they become too heavy and fall. Large stones can break glass, damage cars and roofs and injure people.

Hail often comes suddenly and is hard to forecast locally. The danger is greatest for people outdoors without shelter, and from glass: windows, skylights, conservatories, car windows.

Because hail almost always comes with a thunderstorm, the lightning rules apply too: if you can hear thunder, you are within reach of lightning. Safe places are solid buildings and enclosed vehicles with a metal roof. After the hail there is often ice and water: hail makes roads slippery and blocks drains.

This page guides you through the warning, the storm indoors, outdoors and in the car, and the time afterwards.

Step by step

A hailstorm is coming or has caught me out – Phase 1 of 5When the warning comes. Follow severe-weather warnings by radio or warning app and postpone time outdoors. Put the car in a garage or car park while it is not yet hailing. Bring in garden furniture, potted plants and loose items, retract awnings, close shutters. Bring pets inside.
Phase 1 of 5

Phase 1 of 5

When the warning comes

Follow severe-weather warnings by radio or warning app and postpone time outdoors. Put the car in a garage or car park while it is not yet hailing. Bring in garden furniture, potted plants and loose items, retract awnings, close shutters. Bring pets inside.

The animation shows the key actions of each phase schematically; the text below is what counts.

  1. Phase 1

    When the warning comes

    • Follow severe-weather warnings by radio or warning app and postpone time outdoors.
    • Put the car in a garage or car park while it is not yet hailing.
    • Bring in garden furniture, potted plants and loose items, retract awnings, close shutters.
    • Bring pets inside.

  2. Phase 2

    Hail is falling: indoors

    • Stay in the building, keep away from windows, glass doors and skylights.
    • Do not run outside to move the car or fetch things.
    • Do not stand at the window filming.
    • During a thunderstorm avoid water pipes and corded devices.

  3. Phase 3

    Hail is falling: caught outdoors

    • Get into a building or an enclosed car as quickly as possible.
    • Until then protect your head with a backpack, bag or your arms.
    • Do not stand under isolated trees or next to masts – risk of lightning.
    • Keep children in front of you and shield them with a jacket or bag.

  4. Phase 4

    Hail is falling: in the car

    • Slow down, hazard lights on, stop safely off the carriageway.
    • Do not stop on the carriageway or the hard shoulder under a bridge.
    • Stay in the car, turn your face away from the windows.
    • Cover yourself with a jacket or blanket, protect children first.

  5. Phase 5

    Afterwards

    • Go back outside about 30 minutes after the last thunder.
    • Hail on the road is as slippery as ice – walk and drive slowly.
    • Watch out for blocked drains and rising water.
    • Do not climb onto damaged or slippery roofs; photograph damage from the ground and report it to your insurer.

★ Pro tips

What experienced people do differently: proven practice from mountain rescue, fire services, lifeguards and civil protection that beginners rarely know.

  1. Count from flash to thunder

    Count the seconds between lightning and thunder. If it is under about 30 seconds, the storm is close enough that you should get into a building or car at once. Hail often arrives with exactly this core of the storm.

  2. While driving: petrol station canopy or car park

    If you see a hailstorm coming, pull under a petrol station canopy or into a multi-storey or underground car park – as long as you can get there safely and calmly. Car and passengers are protected there without blocking traffic. A bridge over the carriageway is no substitute.

  3. Watch the rain radar

    On a weather app's rain radar, strong storm cells show up in the most intense colours, and you can see where they are moving. That often tells you whether a cell will reach you within minutes. Then you have time to secure the car and garden furniture.

  4. Photograph hailstones next to a coin

    After the hail, place a few large stones next to a coin or ruler and photograph them before they melt. Add dated photos of the damage. This helps your insurer assess the claim quickly.

  5. Clear hail from drains

    Once the storm has passed, push hailstones away from street drains, light wells and downpipe outlets at ground level. Otherwise meltwater backs up and runs into the basement or garage. Do not climb onto the roof to do it.

What to watch out for

  • Glass

    Most injuries indoors come from broken glass. Keeping away from windows, skylights and glass doors is the simplest protection.

  • Lightning

    Hail usually comes with a thunderstorm. Outdoors no place is truly safe; isolated trees, masts, summits and water are especially dangerous.

  • Stopping under bridges

    Anyone who stops on the carriageway under a bridge causes jams and rear-end collisions. Better to continue slowly to a safe place to stop.

  • Ice and water afterwards

    A layer of hail is as slippery as ice, and hailstones block drains. After the storm, water can collect quickly in dips and underpasses.

Common mistakes

  • Running to the car to move it while hail is already falling.
  • Stopping on the carriageway under a bridge.
  • Standing at the window filming.
  • Sheltering under a single tree.
  • Climbing onto the roof right after the hail.

Prepare in advance

  • Enable severe-weather warnings for your location.
  • Know a covered parking place for the car.
  • Carry a blanket in the car for emergencies.
  • Know which windows, skylights and glass areas in your home are especially exposed.
  • On outings and mountain tours check the forecast and turn back early when thunderstorms are likely.

Special consideration

Children
The rattling on the roof is loud and can be frightening. Move children away from windows and explain where the noise comes from. Outdoors, protect children first.
Animals
Bring pets in when the warning comes; for grazing animals this is the owners' job and needs planning beforehand. While it is hailing, nobody goes out.

Sources

  • Thunderstorms & Lightning · Ready.gov – U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • Lightning Safety · NOAA National Weather Service (USA)
  • JetStream – An Online School for Weather · U.S. National Weather Service (NOAA)
  • Ratgeber für Notfallvorsorge und richtiges Handeln in Notsituationen · Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK), Deutschland

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Basics for this situation

Why: Always applies to this situation – regardless of your answers.

All rules of this situation (7)

  1. [not active] If How far along is it? = Warning, no hail yet

    Use the time before the hail: car into a garage or car park, garden furniture inside, awnings in, shutters closed, journeys and time outdoors postponed.

  2. [not active] If Where are you? = In the car

    Do not stop on the carriageway or the hard shoulder under a bridge – there is a risk of jams and rear-end collisions. Pull off safely, hazard lights on, stay in the car, cover yourself with a jacket or blanket.

  3. [not active] If Where are you? = Outdoors, on foot or by bike

    Get into a building or a closed car as quickly as possible. Under an isolated tree you are safe from neither hail nor lightning.

  4. [not active] If Where are you? = In the mountains or far from buildings

    In the mountains the thunderstorm rules apply: leave summits, ridges, open areas and lone trees at once, move to lower ground but not into gullies with running water. Keep away from metal and spread out as a group.

  5. [not active] If How far along is it? = The hail is over

    Hail makes roads slippery and blocks drains – water can back up quickly. Do not climb onto damaged roofs; photograph damage from the ground.

  6. [not active] If Who is with you? = Children

    Move children away from windows and explain that the noise is hail on the roof and nothing happens inside. In the car, cover children with a jacket or blanket.

  7. [not active] If Who is with you? = Pets or animals outdoors

    Bring pets in as soon as the warning comes. Do not run outside to fetch animals while it is hailing.