34 departments on orange snow alert
Cancelled flights and drivers warned of black ice across large parts of north and west France.
TRAFFIC and transport around the north and west are being disrupted by snow.
This morning 34 departments were under an “orange alert” from Météo France, mainly because of risks of black ice on the roads.
The RATP has stopped some of its buses in the Paris area and flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly are on average half an hour late.
About 15 – 25% of short of medium-haul flights have been cancelled at those airports (about 30 flights at Charles-de-Gaulle). No long-haul flights have been affected and it is hoped alternatives can be found for passengers. Restaurant vouchers have been handed out to people whose flights have been stopped.
According to Météo France despite the problems, the conditions are not exceptional for winter in the areas concerned, however the risks of ice may make traffic conditions difficult.
The areas currently affected by the alert are the regions of Centre, Champagne-Ardennes, Haute-Normandie, Ile-de-France, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardie and the departments of Maine-et-Loire, Orne, Sarthe, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, Yonne, Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère and Manche.
The snow is moving north-east from the Pays de la Loire (west) towards Ardennes (north-east). There are showers of snow in an area from Poitou over to the west of Lorraine, moving northwards as the day goes on, leaving behind 2 -5cm, but changing to rain in the more southern parts of the zone during the morning.
In the west it is expected that there will be snow on the ground all day, reaching 6 – 8 cm in some areas. In the Côtes d’Armor, Manche and Finistère snow coming from the sea is expected to leave behind layers of up to 10cm.
