Snow to hit most of France this week

Snow is expected to cover large parts of France on Wednesday, according to Météo-France.

The national forecaster has predicted that snow showers will hit large swathes of the country from Hauts-de-France in the north to Nouvelle Aquitaine in the southwest as polar air heads south. Even Paris is expected to get its first dusting of the winter.

Météo-France said that a cold front will bring snow first to the north and east of the country and then the Massif Central from Wednesday, the first official day of winter, and will spread south and west in the hours and days that follow.

Most of the country is likely to experience some snow on Thursday, while the capital can expect its share overnight into Friday, although it is not expected to last long and at low levels the amount of snow falling is likely to be small, though several centimetres of snow could be recorded in the Grand-Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Mediterranean regions should, mostly, remain dry and cold - though some local snow showers could make their way to low-lying areas of the former Languedoc Rousillon and western Corsica.

More snow is forecast in the east of the country on Saturday, notably in parts of Provence-Côte d'Azur and Corsica. Once the weather front has passed, Météo-France warned that most of the country will experience low temperatures and heavy frosts. It has forecast overnight temperatures as low as -11C in higher-altitude areas of Provence-Côte d'Azur.