Snow covers Paris and northern France, disrupting transport services
With some parts of northern France getting up to 15cm of snow on Wednesday night, roads and rail transport was disrupted on Thursday morning.
Météo France placed 25 French départements across northern and central France on orange alert for snow and ice on Thursday.
The départements are: Aisne, Ardennes, Calvados, Cantal, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire, Marne, Nord, Oise, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Puy-de-Dôme, Paris, Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Somme, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val-d'Oise.
🔶 25 départements en Orange (https://t.co/CSYEovTI83) pic.twitter.com/GQatCxzUYR
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) January 18, 2024
In the north of the country, the weather alert was only expected to remain in place until 10am, as forecasters predicted dryer weather.
Overall, Normandy recorded around 2-5cm of snow, with peaks of up to 10cm locally, meanwhile other parts of northern France saw peaks of up to 15cm locally.
Paris only got a light dusting of about 1-4cm overnight, unusual in a city that rarely sees snow.
❄❄❄ Les images de Paris et de l'Île-de-France sous la neige pic.twitter.com/HFpG3iRihO
— BFM Paris Île-de-France (@BFMParis) January 18, 2024
Most of the snow had stopped by 6am.
Ce matin #Paris se réveille sous la #neige ⛄️❄️ pic.twitter.com/kT6CATVChN
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) January 18, 2024
As for central France, the orange alert was only expected to go into effect in the départements of Cantal, Puy-de-Dôme, Loire and Haute-Loire after 4pm, and then after 6pm for Isère.
Travel disruptions
In Météo France's 6am bulletin, the national weather serviced warned that "traffic conditions will be very difficult in the départements on orange alert."
As of 8am, France's traffic watchdog Bison Futé had already recorded 1,119km of traffic jams across the country.
In the Paris region, the government-run traffic website Sytadin warned on Thursday morning that motorists should postpone any journeys as much as possible.
Episode neigeux : les conditions de conduite sur le réseau peuvent être localement difficiles. Dans la mesure du possible, différez vos déplacements. Restez prudents. Les équipes de la DiRIF restent mobilisées pour traiter les derniers points sensibles du réseau.
— Sytadin (@sytadin) January 18, 2024
The service noted that driving conditions were especially difficult in the Yvelines and Val-d'Oise départements, as well as on the following motorways: the A15, the A115, the N14, the N184 and the N104. They advised to give priority to salt trucks.
The Paris regional transport network was also disrupted by the weather, with the majority of bus lines not operating on Thursday morning.
There was also disruption and delays on all RER lines, some tram networks and transiliens, and several trains were cancelled on the RER E. You can find the latest transport updates on the RATP website.
Most of the lines were expected to be fully operational again by mid-morning on Thursday.
As for other northern départements, several areas cancelled school bus services due to icy roads and regional bus and transport networks were also disrupted, France Bleu reported.
Traffic was especially heavy in the Nord département, particularly on the A21, which counted 89.4km of traffic jams, and the A2, which counted 45.2km of slowdowns, on Thursday morning.
In Pas-de-Calais and Moselle, Bison Futé also reported slowdowns along the A1 and the A31.
⚠️🟠#VigilanceOrange #Neige #Verglas pour l'ensemble des départements de la région #HautsDeFrance (#Aisne #Nord #Oise #PasDeCalais #Somme) pic.twitter.com/Vcvd44nQv7
— Préfecture de la région Hauts-de-France et du Nord (@prefet59) January 18, 2024
Will the snow continue?
Forecasters predicted the snow would move toward central and eastern France on Thursday morning, with a few more centimetres of snow was possible in the easternmost départements affected by the orange alert.
The snowy weather was expected to hit central France in the afternoon, with as much as 10 cm of snow predicted to fall in the Cantal département.
Though dryer weather was expected during the day on Thursday in northern France, there could still be instances of icy pavements and roads, due to refreezing in the early evening.
As for the south of France, parts of France along Mediterranean were expected to enjoy a sunny day. In the south-west, cloudy skies were on the forecast, with some rain and snow in the Pyrenees.
Maximum temperatures across northern France were set to remain between 0C to 2C. Meanwhile, southern France could see temperatures between 13C and 17C, according to BFMTV.
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Météo France placed 25 French départements across northern and central France on orange alert for snow and ice on Thursday.
The départements are: Aisne, Ardennes, Calvados, Cantal, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire, Marne, Nord, Oise, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Puy-de-Dôme, Paris, Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Somme, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val-d'Oise.
🔶 25 départements en Orange (https://t.co/CSYEovTI83) pic.twitter.com/GQatCxzUYR
— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) January 18, 2024
In the north of the country, the weather alert was only expected to remain in place until 10am, as forecasters predicted dryer weather.
Overall, Normandy recorded around 2-5cm of snow, with peaks of up to 10cm locally, meanwhile other parts of northern France saw peaks of up to 15cm locally.
Paris only got a light dusting of about 1-4cm overnight, unusual in a city that rarely sees snow.
❄❄❄ Les images de Paris et de l'Île-de-France sous la neige pic.twitter.com/HFpG3iRihO
— BFM Paris Île-de-France (@BFMParis) January 18, 2024
Most of the snow had stopped by 6am.
Ce matin #Paris se réveille sous la #neige ⛄️❄️ pic.twitter.com/kT6CATVChN
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) January 18, 2024
As for central France, the orange alert was only expected to go into effect in the départements of Cantal, Puy-de-Dôme, Loire and Haute-Loire after 4pm, and then after 6pm for Isère.
Travel disruptions
In Météo France's 6am bulletin, the national weather serviced warned that "traffic conditions will be very difficult in the départements on orange alert."
As of 8am, France's traffic watchdog Bison Futé had already recorded 1,119km of traffic jams across the country.
In the Paris region, the government-run traffic website Sytadin warned on Thursday morning that motorists should postpone any journeys as much as possible.
Episode neigeux : les conditions de conduite sur le réseau peuvent être localement difficiles. Dans la mesure du possible, différez vos déplacements. Restez prudents. Les équipes de la DiRIF restent mobilisées pour traiter les derniers points sensibles du réseau.
— Sytadin (@sytadin) January 18, 2024
The service noted that driving conditions were especially difficult in the Yvelines and Val-d'Oise départements, as well as on the following motorways: the A15, the A115, the N14, the N184 and the N104. They advised to give priority to salt trucks.
The Paris regional transport network was also disrupted by the weather, with the majority of bus lines not operating on Thursday morning.
There was also disruption and delays on all RER lines, some tram networks and transiliens, and several trains were cancelled on the RER E. You can find the latest transport updates on the RATP website.
Most of the lines were expected to be fully operational again by mid-morning on Thursday.
As for other northern départements, several areas cancelled school bus services due to icy roads and regional bus and transport networks were also disrupted, France Bleu reported.
Traffic was especially heavy in the Nord département, particularly on the A21, which counted 89.4km of traffic jams, and the A2, which counted 45.2km of slowdowns, on Thursday morning.
In Pas-de-Calais and Moselle, Bison Futé also reported slowdowns along the A1 and the A31.
⚠️🟠#VigilanceOrange #Neige #Verglas pour l'ensemble des départements de la région #HautsDeFrance (#Aisne #Nord #Oise #PasDeCalais #Somme) pic.twitter.com/Vcvd44nQv7
— Préfecture de la région Hauts-de-France et du Nord (@prefet59) January 18, 2024
Will the snow continue?
Forecasters predicted the snow would move toward central and eastern France on Thursday morning, with a few more centimetres of snow was possible in the easternmost départements affected by the orange alert.
The snowy weather was expected to hit central France in the afternoon, with as much as 10 cm of snow predicted to fall in the Cantal département.
Though dryer weather was expected during the day on Thursday in northern France, there could still be instances of icy pavements and roads, due to refreezing in the early evening.
As for the south of France, parts of France along Mediterranean were expected to enjoy a sunny day. In the south-west, cloudy skies were on the forecast, with some rain and snow in the Pyrenees.
Maximum temperatures across northern France were set to remain between 0C to 2C. Meanwhile, southern France could see temperatures between 13C and 17C, according to BFMTV.
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