Red alerts for traffic across France this weekend

Friday August 16 (today)

Traffic forecaster Bison Futé has predicted no problems for anyone leaving for their holidays today (“departure direction”; Friday August 16), but there are likely to be more issues on the roads for anyone coming back home (“return direction”).

There is an orange alert (third-most severe level) for most of the country in this direction, and a red alert (second-most severe alert, just under the most-severe black), in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur area, especially between 12h and 16h.

Saturday August 17

Bison Futé has classed Saturday as “red” for the entire country, for travellers ending their holidays and coming back to the major cities (returns).

The A10 motorway near Bordeaux is expected to be especially busy, as is the A62 between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Narbonne; and the A9 between Narbonne and Montpellier.

For those driving south (departures), there is a red alert in the south of the country - including in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - and an orange alert for the north.

Drivers are also warned to avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel towards Italy between 16h and 19h on Saturday, as queues of up to 30 minutes are expected.

Sunday August 18

Sunday will not be as gridlocked, the forecaster said, with a green rating (no problems) for those leaving the major cities, across the entire country.

For those returning from holiday, however, there is an “orange” alert across most of the country, with a “red” warning in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Queues of 30 minutes to an hour are expected through the Mont-Blanc tunnel from Italy.

Drivers are warned to avoid the Ile-de-France region, especially before 12h.