The snowflakes fell with intensity on Paris and its suburbs on Thursday at midday, after the snow reached the north-western quarter of France where traffic conditions are “very delicate”.
More than 50 departments are placed on orange alert for snow, ice and wind because of the Caetano storm.
Passed in front of the church of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), Samira Slimani, 67, wrapped her little dog in a quilted coat and put little boots on him.
“You have to be ready for the snow, animals fear the cold,” smiles the retiree who is nevertheless worried because her “apartment is very poorly insulated.”
Pressed by the cold when leaving a bakery in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), Habiba Kadri is not bothered by bad weather, “as long as transport does not stop”, notes this hospital services agent who takes the RER À to go to work in a Parisian clinic.
The 45-year-old woman is concerned about “people who work outside, in the building” or waste management.
A few dozen meters away, Hassan Alayoud, a 56-year-old road worker, shrugs his shoulders: “we have had instructions, we are ready for the snow,” he assures, wrapped up in his fluorescent yellow work uniform and his black hat.
This storm “will cross France from west to east and cause an early winter episode that is sufficiently notable to make traffic conditions difficult in the regions concerned”, indicates Météo-France on its website.
Orne, where thirty salt spreaders are in action according to the prefect, seems particularly affected with already ten road accidents recorded in connection with the snowfall at 10:00 a.m., and “possible but difficult” traffic on the RN12 (Alençon-Axis). Mortagne and Alençon-La Lacelle).
– Strong winds –
Météo-France has placed 56 departments on orange alert, including 31 for snow and ice (after the lifting of the alert in Côtes-d'Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine), mainly in the northern part of the country and in the Alps. , and 25 for wind, from Loire-Atlantique to Gironde then on a line going to Savoie, including the two Corsican departments.
“In Ile-de-France, we expect 1 to 5 cm, locally 5 to 10 cm in the south of the region,” continues Météo-France, which adds that snowfall “is also expected at low altitude in the Alps South”.
Further south, the wind will blow strongly with “gusts generally between 100 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 highest points of the Alps.
The Loire-Atlantique department warned mid-morning that the Saint-Nazaire bridge could close between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. if measured gusts exceed 120 km/h.
In New Aquitaine, train traffic is 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.
School transport is suspended on Thursday in Orne, Manche, Calvados, Eure and Eure-et-Loir.
In Seine-Maritime, “collective transport of children and school buses and interurban collective transport” will be prohibited from 6 p.m. this evening and again on Friday morning following the worsening of Météo-France forecasts for the department.
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.
