CARDS. Weather: snow and freezing rain with 16 departments on orange alert and 43 on yellow, but mild in the southwest

In the southwest quarter of the country, the weather is overcast this Saturday, January 4 in the morning, more or less rainy in places. But in the Massif Central, this rain falls on frozen ground, temporarily causing icy conditions.

The weather is still dry and cold east of the Rhône under a sky which will become increasingly cloudy during the day. In the northern half of the country the sun dominates but there too the high altitude clouds progress quickly from the south with the arrival of a rainy and cold front, while freezing fogs from the Ardennes to Alsace and the Saône Valley dissipate in the morning. But it won't be better afterwards.

In the afternoon the rainy disturbance initially shifts from the South-East to the Massif Central and Brittany. At the end of the afternoon, this light rain reaches Normandy, the Paris region and Burgundy, which can also cause local ice, then in the evening Hauts-de-France and the Grand Est, very temporarily preceded by snow.

In the south the weather is variable in the afternoon, and improves in the southwest, with nice clearings developing south of the Garonne.

Be vigilant especially for icy conditions

Minimum temperatures are very cold in the north and east of the country. They range from -6 to -1 degrees in general in the plains, lower in the mountains up to -15 in the Jura.

The maximums will not exceed 1 to 4 degrees in the afternoon in a large northeastern quarter of the country, 4 and 6 in the North-West, between 14 and 18 in the South-West and cooler in PACA, with 13 maximum degrees.

It is these very cool temperatures in the north and east of the country which, combined with falling rain and/or snow, place 44 departments on yellow alert, especially for icy conditions, for the entire day of this Saturday, first on the heights of the Massif Central (including Lozère and Cantal), then especially in the evening, from the north to the east of France.

Three other departments in Brittany will be placed on yellow alert this Saturday from 6 p.m.:

• Finistère (wind, rain-floods)
• Morbihan (wind, rain-floods)
• Loire-Atlantique (rain-floods)