GENEVA: Driving winds and 2-centimetre-wide hail stones battered central Switzerland Thursday, as a storm arriving from France tore off tree branches and seriously injured several people.

The Swiss-German TV channel SRF reported at least six people were hurt when a tree fell on them as they watched a gymnastics competition in the central city of Biel.

Police were unavailable to confirm the number of injured.

Winds of more than 130 kilometres per hour (80 mph) also drove through Geneva's international airport, causing one plane on the tarmac to crash into a container.

The storm caused flooding in parts of the airport, disrupting air traffic for around 20 minutes, airport officials said, with one flight forced to land in the nearby French city of Lyon instead.

Train passengers travelling within the country and to parts of France faced delays.

According to forecasters, the bad weather is the result of a hot spell in the region which caused large amounts of snow and ice in the Alps to melt. (AFP)