Traffic restrictions for heavy goods vehicles were taken on Wednesday in several departments of Hauts-de-France, where school transport is suspended for the day due to the snow and ice alert in five departments.
The Oise is placed on Orange alert for snow and ice from 2 p.m., like Seine-Maritime in the Normandy region. The North, Pas-de-Calais and the Somme will follow at 4:00 p.m., according to the latest Météo France bulletin.
In Pas-de-Calais, the movement of heavy goods vehicles is prohibited from 2:00 p.m. “on the entire secondary road network” until Thursday noon, according to a decree from the prefecture.
The speed of vehicles whose total authorized weight is less than 3.5 tonnes is lowered by 20 km/hour on motorways and national roads throughout Hauts-de-France on Wednesday, according to a prefectural decree.
Overtaking is prohibited and the maximum authorized speed is limited to 80 km/hour for vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes on the entire road network in the region, according to the same decree.
In Seine-Maritime, the maximum authorized speed has been lowered by 20 km/hour for heavy goods vehicles on the entire road network, “until further notice”.
– Expected TER disruptions –
The Hauts-de-France Region announced on Tuesday the “total suspension” of school transport and intercity bus transport lines for Wednesday, planning to decide on their resumption on Thursday “depending on changes in weather conditions”. .
Orange vigilance must last until Thursday noon for the Nord and Pas-de-Calais.
For the Oise and the Somme, where the orange snow-ice alert must be lifted on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. respectively, the expected snow depths are “generally revised downwards”, according to the latest Météo France bulletin.
The snow precipitation expected on Wednesday “can lead locally to snow depths of 2 to 5 cm in the north-west of the Oise, the south-east of the Somme, the north of the Aisne and the south-eastern margin of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais”, according to Météo France.
A “clear softening” should then quickly occur in these sectors, while in the north-west of Hauts-de-France, the snow should resume in the second part of the night and in the morning of Thursday.
Over the entire episode, precipitation should generate “snow depths of around 5 to 10 cm, reaching up to 10 to 15 cm or even locally 20 cm on the relief of Boulonnais and Artois “, according to Météo France.
This is a phenomenon “not exceptional but sufficiently notable to make traffic conditions difficult”, underlines the observatory.
Removals of regional express trains and disruptions “are to be expected” on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in the north of Hauts-de-France, warned the SNCF on the X account @TERHDF.
In Normandy, the Calvados department is placed on orange alert on Wednesday due to a “significant flood” of the Orne expected at Thury-Harcourt, following significant rainfall, according to the Vigicrues website.
