Workers told to go home as snow arrives in northern France

Residents in and around the capital have been urged to "return home before 19:00," by local authorities, particularly if they are need to drive on major roads in the Île-de-France region.

The advice was issued by the Paris police prefecture in light of the heavy snowfall expected from this afternoon onwards in the north of France.

In addition, there is a chance of some local roads in the region being closed due to the incoming snow.

More generally in the north, drivers are being cautioned to stay extremely vigilant on roads in the north of France, with 31 heightened weather warnings for black ice, rain or snow in place today (January 17).

The extreme conditions are due to depression Irène, a low-pressure bitter wind from northern Europe, colliding with warm and wet high-pressure air from the Mediterranean already in place across France.

A long way from Irène’s winds, areas south of the Garonne recorded temperatures of 18C at sunrise today and may reach 20C this afternoon.

Those in the far north, around Lille, are unlikely to see the thermometer climb above 0C.

Snow has so far only fallen in small quantities around the Belgian border, although much more is expected over the next two days.

The majority of tier-three orange weather warnings are in place for black ice/icy and snowy road conditions (neige-verglas), stretching from parts of Normandy to the German border, along France’s northern departments.

There are also six heightened warnings in place for heavy rain/flash flooding, in Brittany and parts of Normandy.

Some departments are facing multiple warnings. The Orne, for example, has a tier-three warning for both icy driving conditions and heavy rain.

Heavy snowfall expected and intense rain in Brittany

Snow is expected to begin falling in the northern third of the country this afternoon, starting near the Belgian border, adding to the light dusting seen there overnight.

This will progress southwards throughout the evening, replacing preceding rainfall in areas north of the Seine and in Paris with up to 10cm of snow overnight.

Inland parts of Normandy and Hauts-de-France are set to see around 15cm, and in some localised cases around 20cm may fall.

The snowfall is set to be intense, with more than 3cm falling per hour in some areas.

Whilst snowfall in these areas is set to stop by tomorrow (January 18) morning – and potentially move southward – warnings over driving conditions are likely to remain.

School transport has been cancelled in some areas of Normandy and Hauts-de-France and a ban on heavy goods vehicles is in place in most departments facing warnings.

Ministers are meeting this morning to discuss further restrictions on driving in the north, in addition to measures already announced.

Alongside school transport and the restriction on lorries (those over 7.5 tons or carrying ‘dangerous’ materials), some roads in and around Paris have seen their speed limits reduced to 20 km/h, or closed altogether.

You can see which roads are impacted in a statement from Paris’ police prefecture below.

In Brittany and some parts of Normandy, heavy coastal rains are hitting the peninsula, with most places seeing around 30 mm of rainfall.

In the Morbihan department however, around 90 mm is set to fall, equalling with a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.

Read more: What to do (and not do) during heavy rain and flood alerts in France

Temperature difference of 20C

The south-west of France may still see snowfall before the end of the week, depending on how powerful cold winds remain as they push southwards.

This morning, however, there was a world of difference between areas south of the Garonne and the rest of France.

Temperatures recorded at 07:00 were around 18C in Biarritz and Pau, whilst a chilly -2C was seen across many areas north of France, in particular near the Belgian and German borders.

As a reminder, you can keep up with weather warnings on the official Météo France website. Note that as weather conditions progress throughout the day, changes to these warnings are likely to take place.

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