Traffic warnings as holidays end

Heavy traffic is expected on all mayor routes across France as people travel home after the holidays.

Monday marks the end of a three-day weekend and is expected to see particularly heavy traffic, especially in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, according to traffic prediction website Bison Futé.

In France there are three zones (A, B and C) which dictate when a school at a particular location will have its holiday.

Zone A includes Caen, Rennes, and Nantes in the North West, Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Grenoble and Montpellier in the South, and Nancy-Metz in the North East and it is this zone (as well as the Netherlands) which ends its holidays this weekend.

Travel on all major routes in France will be disrupted, according to Bison Futé. The site gives an orange alert for the three days, and red for those returning to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Today: Saturday, April 29

For those setting off today traffic build-up in cities and surrounding areas is expected. Bison Futé puts the day on orange alert. In Ile-de-France, congestion is expected on the A10 towards the Saint-Arnoult toll as well as on the A6 before the Fleury toll.

In the west of the country, the A10 will be jammed this morning between Tours and Poitiers. Towards Nantes, the A11 will see heavy traffic until 5pm. In the south, the A7 between Lyon and Orange will be disrupted until 6pm, as will the A9 between Nîmes and Montpellier. It will be better to leave large cities after 4pm.

According to the weather forecast today will be the sunniest of the weekend.

Tomorrow: Sunday, April 30

Green alert across France with more traffic than usual for a Sunday. On the A7, the return trips from the Mediterranean coast towards Lyon, then towards Paris via the A6 could mean slow-moving traffic between 6pm and 8pm. Traffic is also expected on the A13 and A10 towards Paris from 6pm.

The day will see a morning chill, with temperatures between 18°C and 20°C in the afternoon.

Monday, May 1

It will be by far the busiest day, classified as orange nationwide and red in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

After a quiet morning, the traffic in the direction of the big cities is going to increase from the beginning of the afternoon, only calming after 8pm. Slow-moving traffic is expected in all the typically busy areas, such as on the A7 between Orange and Valencia; on the A10 of Bordeaux towards Paris; on the A11 of Nantes towards Paris and lastly on the A13 from Normandy.

Temperatures will be lower than previous days.