Snow all the way to the plains and temperatures worthy of Januarythis is the program for this Thursday, November 21 across a large part of France. With the arrival of the Caetano storm, winter is coming to France. In its latest bulletin this Thursday at 6 a.m., Météo France placed 52 departments on Orange alert, including 33 for snow-ice, mainly in the northern part of the country and in the Alps, and 21 for wind, from Loire-Atlantique to the Gironde then on a line going to Savoie.
In detail, orange vigilance for “snow-ice” concerns 33 departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Aube, Calvados, Cher, Côte-d'Or, Côtes -d'Armor, Doubs, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Manche, Haute-Marne, Mayenne, Nièvre, Orne, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône, Sarthe, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Maritime, Yvelines, Vosges , Yonne, Territoire de Belfort, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d’Oise.
Orange vigilance for “wind” affects 21 departments: Ain, Allier, Charente, Charente-Maritime, Creuse, Finistère, Gironde, Isère, Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Morbihan , Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, South Corsica and Upper Corsica.
Eric Turpin
Snow expected in the plains
At 6 a.m. this Thursday morning, the first snowflakes fell on the tip of Brittany and will slide slowly towards the east. “We expect two to five cm in the plains, locally up to 10 cm above 200/300 m, and up to 15 to 20 cm in the east of Franche-Comté,” specifies Météo France in its bulletin. Snowfall is also expected in the massifs, sometimes with more than 50 cm in the Vosges, the Jura and the Alps. Météo France anticipates snow “at low altitude in the Southern Alps”.
In the Paris region, “The snowfall will arrive a little faster than expected”announcement on franceinfo Patrick Marlière, meteorologist. Expected at midday, “They should arrive between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. this morning.” and will fall “at least until 7-8 p.m.”. Météo France forecasts 1 to 3 cm in Ile-de-France and “locally 5 to 7 cm in the south of the region”, in Yvelines and Essonne.
Concerning the wind, orange vigilance extends from the coast of Pays de la Loire and Gironde to the north of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Gusts of between 100 and 120 km/h are expected on the coast and up to 130 km/h in southern Brittany and on exposed islands and capes. Inland, gusts are 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”.
Traffic restrictions
In several departments, the truck traffic over 7.5 tonnes will be restricted, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h and they will not be able to overtake. These restrictions 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, Loiret and Ile-de-France. 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.
Furthermore, the Normandy region has decided to suspend school transport all day, in the departments of Orne, Manche, Calvados and Eure. Same thing in Eure-et-Loir. In Loire-Atlantique, the Saint-Nazaire bridge will be closed to traffic if wind gusts exceed 120 km/h. The SNCF has preferred to preventively stop several train lines, notably Bordeaux-La Rochelle, Limoges-Poitiers and Limoges- Périgueux.
Strong winds could also cause avalanches in the Alps. “Extreme vigilance is required when practicing all mountain activities and mainly ski or snowshoe hikes” and Haute-Savoie avalanche risk of 4 out of 5 on the Mont-Blanc massif“, indicated the prefecture.
