Twenty-eight departments have been placed by Météo-France on orange snow and ice vigilance on an axis going from Brittany to the Grand-Est, via Ile-de-France, from Thursday morning, and are starting to take measures to prepare for this cold episode.
“On Thursday, the Caetano depression will cross France from west to east, and will cause snowfall” and ice, including in the plains, which could be “sufficiently significant to make driving conditions difficult”, specifies Météo- France.
These snowfalls are expected “between the end of the night from Wednesday to Thursday and the evening of Thursday” and the orange vigilance, the second most important of the four Météo-France levels, is maintained at least until midnight Thursday.
The depression “will give snow, 1 to 3 cm possible in Paris and Petite Couronne, up to 7 cm in Essonne and more in the regions further east and at altitude (up to 20 cm on the side of Belfort)” warns the forecaster.
The snow will also affect “northern and central Brittany (two to five centimeters) and the interior of Normandy where accumulations could reach 10 cm on the Norman hills”.
The Normandy region, in consultation with the prefectures, has “decided to suspend school and commercial transport lines” for the entire day of November 21, 2024, in the departments of Orne, Manche, Calvados and Eure.
Also in Eure-et-Loir, where expected snow depths are between one and five centimeters and could reach up to 10 cm in the hilliest areas of Perche, school transport will be suspended on Thursday, according to the prefecture.
The Manche prefecture “recommends avoiding taking the road during the snowfall”.
– “Early winter episode” –
In the event of travel, several prefectures advise providing emergency lighting and a reserve of drinking water in the event of prolonged immobilization, and also taking warm clothing, blankets and food.
The departments concerned by vigilance are: Aube, Calvados, Côte-d'Or, Côtes-d'Armor, Doubs, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Manche, Haute-Marne, Mayenne, Orne, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône, Sarthe, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Vosges, Yonne, Territory from Belfort, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val de-Marne, Val-d'Oise.
“An extension of this vigilance to some neighboring departments remains possible,” indicates Météo-France.
The passage of this depression occurs as part of an “early winter episode” with the arrival from Wednesday of a “polar air mass” causing temperatures to drop. The latter “should peak between 5 and 10°C at the best of the day, i.e. values comparable to the January averages”, indicates Météo-France on its website.
The cold should persist on Friday before a “powerful mild spell” expected during the day on Saturday.
In the southern part of the depression, more precisely on the Atlantic coasts from Aquitaine to Pays de la Loire up to the Massif Central, strong wind gusts capable of exceeding 100 km/h are possible.
“A change to orange vigilance + strong wind + is likely in the next updates of the vigilance map”, indicates the national forecaster.
Wednesday at midday, 44 departments were on yellow alert (the notch below orange) for the wind for the day of Thursday, while the two departments of Corsica, where gusts of 110 to more than 200km /h are expected, are already on orange alert for Wednesday.
