31 departments on orange alert, school transport prohibited

France is particularly torn in terms of temperatures this morning. In Alsace and the north-east, the mercury has settled into the negative, with -2°C in Strasbourg for example.

But, conversely, the thermometer already displays nearly 18°C ​​in the early morning around Bayonne and in the southwest, where mildness reigns. The difference is therefore around 20°C across France.

In Île-de-France, the T10 tramway no longer runs “due to climatic conditions”. A service interrupted “temporarily” since 5:15 a.m. this morning, as indicated by Île-de-France Mobilités on its website.

As data from Bison futé show, 396 km of traffic jams formed this morning, a value within normal limits despite this episode of snow and ice in the north of the country. What do we owe this pleasant surprise to? Better anticipation?

Météo-France launched the alert on this bad weather on Monday. In addition, an interministerial crisis meeting was held on Tuesday evening, which made it possible to organize a response to the situation, particularly regarding road salting.

Finally, the employees, marked by the images of hardship from last week, were able to have use of teleworking to avoid road transport.

Safety above all: school transport has been suspended preventively in a certain number of departments already affected by orange snow-ice vigilance.

Aisne, Oise… The list of departments concerned can be found here.

Although Île-de-France is affected by an orange snow-ice warning this morning, temperatures there are milder than expected, as indicated by meteorologist forecaster Guillaume Séchet.

“Paris and the south of the region are escaping (the black ice, Editor’s note) with only rain. The temperature is also slowly rising 2°C in the center of Paris.”

In its Météo-France bulletin, it still forecasts a return of cold weather – and a snow disturbance – in the evening and at night. “We expect accumulations of around 2 to 3 cm, locally 5/6 cm in the Paris region,” specifies the agency.

The ideal is to avoid all travel under snow and ice in the departments concerned today. But what reflexes should you adopt if travel is necessary?

Drive slowly, axes to avoid, objects to keep with you… More details can be found in our dedicated article.

On She asks residents to “postpone (their) trips to X:

“Many of you are trying to brave the ice this morning. Meurthe-et-Moselle is currently under the weather phenomenon: postpone your trips, there are numerous material accidents.”

In the Reims sector, traffic conditions are proving very difficult due to the weather conditions. On the Paris-Reims axis, several accidents have already been reported, including a heavy goods vehicle lying down. Longer travel times are expected.

An accident on the A31 (north-south direction) leads to paralysis of the section between Montigny Le Roi and Robécourt, due to patches of ice according to Bison futé. Vehicles are blocked for 7km.

The weather conditions caused some difficulties last night on the A36 towards Mulhouse. Traffic along this route, disrupted by ice and snow, is not recommended.

“Numerous accidents” were noted during the night, including a pileup involving six vehicles, including a heavy goods vehicle.

In its bulletin updated at 6 a.m., the weather agency maintains 31 departments in the north of the country on orange snow-ice alert, while 6 others are concerned by a risk of rain-floods.

More information can be found here.

In order to refine their forecasts as best as possible, particularly regarding temperatures, forecasters have several tools at their disposal. Among them “forecast models”, indicates Météo France, which insists on computer simulations of the behavior of the atmosphere. These should make it possible to “predict the chronology of the disturbance and the associated precipitation.”

Regarding the holding of snow on the ground, “it remains difficult to determine with certainty the occurrence of snow, and even more so its holding” despite technological innovations, insists the institute.

>> Our article

Snow and ice are expected again today over a large northeastern quarter, with 33 departments on orange alert tomorrow and “significant quantities” expected.

After the mess last week in Ile-de-France, how are the authorities organized facing these new bad weather? “Road managers are used to dealing with the arrival of ice in anticipation,” reassures Lyonnel Bossier, director of roads for the Oise departmental council, on BFMTV.

>> Our article

During the day, freezing rain and snowfall will continue from Normandy to the Grand-Est via Pas-de-Calais. In the evenings, these falls will reach the whole of Île-de-France. Precipitation which will continue overnight.

From 7 to 15 cm of snow are expected in Upper Normandy, Picardy, the Ardennes and Hauts-de-France, or even locally up to 20 cm. In the Paris basin, between 2 and 5 cm of snow are expected. The rains will remain heavy in Brittany.

>> Our article

“Freezing rain is observed on an axis going from Haute-Normandie to the north of Ile-de-France to Lorraine and Alsace. The road and motorway networks are made very slippery in these areas, particularly on the Grand-Est region. The softening is confirmed to the south of these areas while the zone of freezing rain continues its slow route towards the north”, announces Météo-France in its latest bulletin.

Météo-France is calling for caution as the freezing rains move towards the north of the country tonight.

Welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to monitoring the extreme cold in France. More than 30 departments are placed on orange snow-ice alert this Wednesday, January 17.