Eleven people have been struck by lightning in a Paris park and six of them are seriously injured, according to the French interior ministry. The ministry said in a statement that eight of the victims were children.

Monceau park, in a well-heeled neighbourhood of northwest Paris, is popular with families on the weekend.

A group of children between 7 and 14 were celebrating a birthday party there, when storm clouds loomed over.

"The rain started to fall and they tried to take shelter, then the lightning struck," said Eric Moulin, spokesman of French firefighting service.

The spokesman said nine people were lying on the ground when an off-duty fire officer arrived at the scene. The spokesman said the situation would have been worse if the officer had not been there.

"I intervened immediately. I made a quick assessment, and I saw that one of the children was in cardiac arrest. So I immediately began cardiac massage and artificial ventilation and then alerted emergency services and I called 18 to confirm access of the fire department," said Captain Pascal, Paris Fire Department.

Lightning strikes have also caused a series of accidents in other parts of Europe recently. In southern Poland, local media says a man was killed and three others injured by lightning.

In a village in western Germany, over 30 people were taken to the hospital after lightning struck the pitch at the end of a children's football match. Most of them were children, who were later found to be unharmed. But three adults, including the 45-year-old referee, were seriously injured. Several regions across Europe have issued storm alerts.