Greece’s Halkidiki region, near Thessaloniki, was battered by gale-force winds, heavy rain and hail on Wednesday evening (10 July).
A state of emergency has been declared and more than 100 rescued workers deployed to the region, the BBC reports.
Images and footage posted to social media show widespread damage and disruption, including trees uprooted by high winds, overturned cars and building damage.
Head of civil protection in northern Greece, Charalambos Steriadis, described the storm as an “unprecedented phenomenon”.
The storm came after a two days of scorching temperatures in Greece, peaking at about 37C.