Heavy traffic for weekend getaway

TRAFFIC experts are predicting up to 350km of jams across France at times this weekend, as holidaymakers make a getaway for the three-day break.

Bison Futé has categorised tonight as "orange" - meaning much heavier traffic than usual on most of the major motorways - as the May 1 public holiday coincides with school holidays in zones B and C.

Drivers are being encouraged not to leave any of the big cities between 17.00 and 20.00 (21.00 for Paris) on Thursday evening.

Friday morning will also be very busy on the roads out of the Ile-de-France region. Saturday will be calm, and Sunday is classified "orange" with the worst traffic expected after 16.00.

An "orange" alert by Bison Futé means between 150 and 350km of stationary traffic is expected.

This weekend is the first of three long public holiday weekends in May.