Flights disrupted by strike and snow

HUNDREDS of flights into and out of France have been cancelled today as a strike by air traffic controllers clashes with bad weather.

Staff at the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile are protesting for the next two days against changes to their employment conditions and a policy to only replace half of workers when they leave on retirement.

They asked airlines last night to cancel between 30% and 50% of today's flights.

Air France says it is running all of its long-haul services as normal, but about half of domestic and European services out of Paris will not run.

Delays are also expected at Marseille, Toulouse, Nice and Lyon.

Some 27 departments from Brittany down to the Ardennes are back on orange alert from Météo France, which is forecasting more heavy snow today and icy roads.

Many departments have put speed restrictions in place, and thousands of lorries have been forced to park alongside motorways after they were banned from travelling in the difficult conditions.

All schools in the Côtes d'Armor in Brittany are closed today. There is also no school transport running in the Vaucluse, Eure, Seine-Maritime and Essonne.