Winter storm Caetano, which affected a large part of France on Thursday, left 235,000 homes without electricity and caused transport difficulties, while more than 50 departments remain on orange alert for snow, ice and wind.
If the snowfall, rather unusual in this western part of France, has decreased significantly, it has had significant consequences.
“At 4:00 p.m. this Thursday, November 21, we recorded 235,000 customers who are deprived of power, particularly in Normandy (70,000), in the Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire (60,000) and in Brittany (50,000),” Enedis indicated.
The public group, the main manager of the electricity network in France, mobilizes 1,400 agents to intervene in regions affected by violent winds and snowfall which causes trees or branches to fall on the cables.
The meteorological phenomenon is “particularly impactful in the west of France, the Pays-de-Loire, Normandy and Brittany regions,” commented Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk prevention when traveling to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Haute-Savoie).
– Flights canceled –
The storm is also causing significant delays at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, where the authorities have asked companies to cancel 10% of their flights.
Against the backdrop of a snowy episode “more intense than initially expected”, Groupe ADP teams “are mobilized to clear snow from runways and de-ice planes, and ensure the safety of flights and passengers, which slows down operations”, a spokesperson for the installation manager assured AFP.
Météo-France has placed 54 departments on orange alert, including 31 for snow-ice (after the alert was lifted at 4:00 p.m. in Finistère and Morbihan), mainly in the northern part of the country and in the Alps.
“On the snowy axis, there are snow depths of between 2 and 8 cm and locally 15 cm on the first heights in Normandy,” continues Météo-France, which adds that snowfall “is also expected at low altitude on the Southern Alps.
Further south, the wind blows strongly with “gusts generally between 110 and 120 km/h on the coast of the departments placed on orange vigilance” and in the interior, up to “more than 150 km/h on the peaks of the Alps.
The Saint-Nazaire bridge is closed “for an indefinite period, wind gusts exceeding 120 km/h”, according to a press release from the Loire-Atlantique department.
In New Aquitaine, train traffic remains very disrupted due to the “preventive stoppage” of traffic on 13 lines due to an “exceptional weather event”, including strong winds in the forecast. This includes major lines at regional level, such as Bordeaux-La Rochelle, Bordeaux-Mont-de-Marsan or Limoges-Périgueux.
Added to this is the social movement underway at the SNCF, with, on the lines that are still running, 6 TER out of 10 and one Intercités out of two in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and almost no impact on the TGVs.
Since 11 a.m., the circulation of trucks over 7.5 tonnes has been restricted, with a speed reduced by 20 km/h and without being able to overtake anywhere in Calvados, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine , Manche, Morbihan, Orne and Sarthe, Cher, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, as well as in Ile-de-France on the major routes.
– Avalanche risks –
School transport was suspended on Thursday in Orne, Manche, Calvados, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Loiret. They will also be suspended in Yvelines and Val d'Oise on Friday.
For its part, Seine-Maritime has banned collective transport of children and intercity transport from 6:00 p.m. on Thursday and for the morning of Friday.
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.
Météo France forecasts “frequent frosts, sometimes severe” for the night from Thursday to Friday. “In this context of possibly still snowy ground, the risk of refreezing in the northern half is quite significant, potentially making the ground very slippery,” reports the forecaster.
