Due to the passage of the Caetano storm, Météo-France places 33 departments on orange snow-ice alert. Up to 10 centimeters of snow are expected in the west of the country. 21 departments are at the same alert level for the risk of violent winds.
Storm Caetano will cross France from west to east and will cause snowfall in the north of the country, Météo-France warns. 33 departments are placed on orange snow-ice alert and 21 on orange alert for the risk of violent winds, for a total of 54 departments affected this Thursday, November 21.
This storm “will cross France from west to east and cause an early winter episode that is sufficiently notable to make traffic conditions difficult in the regions concerned”, indicates Météo-France on its website.
“In Ile-de-France, we expect 1 to 5 cm, locally 5 to 10 cm in the south of the region,” continues Météo-France, which adds that snowfall “is also expected at low altitude in the Alps South.”
Restrictions de circulation
Further south, the wind will blow strongly with “gusts generally between 100 and 120 km/h on the coast of the departments placed on orange vigilance”, or even “130 to 140 km/h possible in the south of Brittany and occasionally on the exposed islands and capes. Inland, gusts should be around 100 km/h and up to “110 to 130 km/h on the Massif Central and more than 150 km/h on the highest points of the Alps.”
In places, temperatures should be close to those of January.
In several departments, the movement of trucks weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will be restricted, with a speed reduced by 20 km/h and will not be able to exceed. This will apply from 6 a.m. in Calvados, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, Manche, Morbihan, Orne and Sarthe, and from 11 a.m. in Cher, Eure , Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret.
Heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will also be prohibited on certain sections of national roads and on the A84 between Fougères and Caen.
Strong winds could also cause avalanches in the Alps. “Extreme vigilance is required for the practice of all mountain activities and mainly ski or snowshoe hikes” and Haute-Savoie “has an avalanche risk of 4 out of 5 on the Mont-Blanc massif”, a indicated the prefecture.
