Snow and ice alert for 11 departments

METEO France has issued an orange weather alert for 11 departments in north-west and central France because of heavy snowfall forecast in the early hours of Monday.

The affected departments around Normandy, Brittany and the Loire valley are the Manche, Calvados, Orne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne and Sarthe. In the Massif Central, the alert applies to the Aveyron, Cantal and Corrèze.

The warning was issued at 16.00 on Sunday and remains in place until the same time on Monday.

Météo France is expecting up to 10cm of snow in the Massif Central, and a similar amount in parts of Basse-Normandie. In Brittany, snowfall will be more limited but cold air will lead to icy conditions on roads.