speed lowered by 20km/h on Ile-de-France roads

The arrival of the Caetano storm, accompanied by snowfall, forced the Paris police headquarters to launch its “emergency system”, raising its snow and ice plan to level 2.

As Île-de-France prepares to see snowflakes fall this Thursday, November 21, motorists are preparing for a difficult day on the roads of the Ile-de-France region.

Beyond a possible overload on the roads resulting from the SNCF strike, the police headquarters announces activating level 2 of the snow and ice plan for the region. Immediate consequence for road users: the maximum speed will be lowered by 20 km/h on all regional roads.

In addition, overtaking is strictly prohibited for heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes on the main roads in the Ile-de-France region, shown on the map below.

Restrictions in place from late morning

The restrictive measures will be activated from 11 a.m., “until the weather conditions improve”. The snowfall is expected to last from late morning until early evening, around 8 p.m.

If traveling this Thursday, the police headquarters recommends preferably using public transport. “Provide minimum equipment (warm clothing, food, water, etc.) in case you are forced to wait several hours on the road in your vehicle, respect the traffic restrictions, the diversions put in place and the instructions data, and facilitate the passage of vehicles clearing roads and highways”, underlines the prefecture.

Finally, watch out for ice, another dangerous factor on the roads, which could accompany Thursday's snowfall. It is therefore all the more important to respect safety distances on the roads.

The weather situation for Île-de-France is likely to continue to evolve between now and Thursday. To date, in a vigilance bulletin released at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Météo-France anticipates snowfall ranging from 1 to 3 centimeters, and locally from 5 to 7 centimeters in the south of the region.

Île-de-France is placed on orange snow-ice alert from 6 a.m. this Thursday morning. Météo-France also indicates that “the risks of accidents are increased” with the weather conditions expected on Thursday.