31 departments on orange alert for snow, ice and wind, transport remains disrupted

Truck drivers stuck on the highway, trains canceled, school buses suspended… If winter storm Caetano “has now left the country” according to Météo-France on Friday November 22, it caused chaos in transport and the weather organization warned of a risk of refreezing “very clear” et “well in place” where the snow fell the day before.

Although the snowfall, which is rather unusual in the west of France, has decreased significantly, it has had significant consequences. Restrictions on road transport apply in certain areas on Friday while SNCF traffic remains locally disrupted.

Dozens of truckers were still blocked by snow around 6:30 a.m. on the A36 motorway, near Montbéliard, in Doubs, in the Beaune-Mulhouse direction, according to images from webcams consulted on the Vinci Autoroutes website .

Furthermore, more than a thousand agents from the electricity network manager are working to restore power while 270,000 people have been deprived of electricity, according to the latest report from Enedis at 6 p.m. Thursday.

On Friday, 31 departments are still placed on orange alert for snow, ice and wind, compared to around fifty on Thursday, Météo-France confirmed in its bulletin published at 6 a.m. The two departments of Corsica should experience a “episode of locally stormy winds (…) until late morning ».

Météo-France announced Friday morning that it had recorded gusts of 150 km/h on the Balagne coast, 160 to 180 km/h in the north of Cap Corse, 120 to 145 km/h by surge on Conca and Porto-Vecchio. , and 90 to 110 km/h in the Bastia region.

The 29 departments affected by snow and ice range from Normandy to Haut-Rhin, via Ile-de-France. There may be a “high risk of sliding phenomenon due to refreezing over a large part of the northern half of the country”warned Météo-France.

Dozens of road accidents

In Haute-Saône, minimum temperatures could thus fall between -8 and -9°C in places, with a risk of refreezing and “in the morning, dangerous road phenomena”warned the prefecture. Dozens of road accidents took place on Thursday. In Manche, an accident on public roads left one seriously injured.

School transport was interrupted in several western departments. This will still be the case on Friday in Mayenne and in the five Normandy departments until midday. Collective transport of children will also be prohibited in Sarthe.

The Paris region, the center of the country and the East will also be affected. Seine-et-Marne will suspend public transport. School lines and regular bus lines will also be suspended until midday in the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. In Loiret, traffic on school lines will be interrupted until midday. In Haut-Rhin, school buses will not take place. The prefect of Doubs also issued an order to suspend school transport from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Montbéliard urban community.

Disruptions on trains and on the roads

Traffic restrictions still affect heavy goods vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes on Friday, with speeds reduced by 20 km/h and overtaking bans in places. Sections of departmental roads, and even highways, have been closed. This will still be the case in Sarthe on Friday, and traffic will be prohibited on the A28 between Alençon and Le Mans in both directions.

In Ile-de-France, the RN 118 will be prohibited on Friday for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes which will not be able to overtake on the main roads in the region. For all vehicles, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h on the same axes.

The disruptions also affected trains. Added to this was the social movement underway at the SNCF. This will still be the case on Friday, said the SNCF, while trees fell on the tracks in places “in Normandy, Pays de la Loire, New Aquitaine and Ile-de-France”.

Trains will not run in Normandy until midday “time to pass the reconnaissance trains and carry out clearances and repairs”says the SNCF. In the Pays de la Loire, “there were a lot of falling trees”. “Traffic is gradually resuming in Nantes-Angers” but on the other hand, “the other lines of the Étoile de Nantes will not be able to resume until tomorrow during the day”. In New Aquitaine, recognitions will “continue tomorrow morning to ensure the possibility of resuming traffic”.

“In Ile-de-France, there are still disruptions on line P, between Tournan and Coulommiers, L2, between Garches and Marnes, C and line T13 for the entire evening”specifies the SNCF.

The storm, which is moving towards the east of the country, has also caused significant delays at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, where the authorities have asked companies to cancel 10% of their flights.