49 departments placed on orange vigilance Thursday

Météo-France has placed forty-nine departments on orange alert for the risk of violent winds, snowfall and ice over a large section of central France, stretching from Brittany to the South-East and including the island de-France, from Thursday at 6 a.m., according to a bulletin published Wednesday, November 20. “On Thursday, the Caetano depression will cross France from west to east and will cause snowfall” north of its trajectory, including in the plains, which could be “significant enough to make traffic conditions difficult”specifies Météo-France. The meteorological agency is also waiting “strong winds in the south” of the passage of depression.

Snowfall is forecast “between the end of the night from Wednesday to Thursday and the evening of Thursday” and orange vigilance is maintained at least until Thursday midnight. “We expect 2 cm to 5 cm in the plains, locally up to 10 cm above 200-300 m, and up to 15 cm to 20 cm in the east of Franche-Comté”adds Météo-France.

The passage of this depression occurs within the framework of a “early winter episode” with the arrival from Wednesday of a “polar air mass” causing temperatures to drop. These latter “should peak between 5°C and 10°C at the best of the day, i.e. values ​​comparable to the January averages”according to Météo-France. The cold is expected to persist on Friday before a “powerful redoux” 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.