Thirty departments have been placed on orange alert for snow and ice in the north of France. The first frosts are expected late in the afternoon.
Météo France classifies thirty departments in orange vigilance for snow and ice. The first frosts are expected at the end of the afternoon, with “episodes of snow then especially freezing rain in the north and north-east of the country this evening and night”. According to Météo France, this disturbance is explained by mild air which will sweep across France from the southwest to the northeast this Saturday, January 4, and during the night from Saturday to Sunday. “This disturbance will encounter a cold air mass, causing snowfall and especially freezing rain for a few hours.” Temperatures will rise by more than ten degrees on Sunday afternoon, after the passage of orange vigilance in the departments concerned.
Météo France warns of “snowfalls” which will be “generally quite brief” but which could “be more persistent in the border departments of the Grand Est, possibly dropping up to five centimeters on the ground”. “The freezing rains then last between one and three hours, potentially causing traffic difficulties,” warns the weather expert.
Which departments?
The North, the Ardennes, the Meuse, the Moselle, the Bas-Rhin, the Haut-Rhin, the Territoire de Belfort, the Vosges, the Meurthe-et-Moselle, the Marne, the Aisne, the Pas-de-Calais , Somme, Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Aube, Côte-d’Or, Haute-Saône, Haute-Marne, Essonne, Paris, Val-d'Oise, Yvelines, Seine-Maritime, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Orne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.
Météo France predicts that fifteen departments will remain on orange alert on Sunday until around six o'clock: the Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Oise, Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Moselle, Haute-Marne, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and the Territoire de Belfort.
