Six Normandy and Ile-de-France departments are placed on orange snow-ice alert this Tuesday, January 9 as a winter episode affects France this week. Snow removal and road salting measures are underway while the A12 and A13 are temporarily closed.
The cold which is spreading across the entire territory for this week of January 8 is coming straight from Scandinavia and central Europe, as detailed by The Weather Channel. This cold snap is part of a tense meteorological context in France while Pas-de-Calais and the North are slowly recovering from the last significant episodes of flooding the previous week. The two departments are still on orange alert for the risk of flooding.
This week, the cold will be intense in the east of the country. The Weather Channel has notably placed several departments in the north-east on alert for cold weather. In detail, these are Aisne, Ardennes, Aube, Marne and Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Oise, Haut and Bas Rhin, Haute-Saône, Somme, Vosges and the Territoire de Belfort. Météo France has also placed most of the eastern part of the country on yellow alert for severe cold and risk of snow and ice.
As for temperatures, these should remain in the negative for a large part of the week. As of this Monday, January 8, the northern hemisphere of France is experiencing temperatures of between 4°C, as in Brest, and -2°C, notably in Lille, Chaumont and Rouen. The Weather Channel forecasts for this Monday January 8 “minimum temperatures between -4 and -2°C and maximums between -2 and 0°C this afternoon”. The cold peak is nevertheless expected this Tuesday, January 9. Météo France forecasts -5°C in the east in Strasbourg and in the Center in Aurillac. Only the Mediterranean coast and Corsica will be positive with 6°C in Marseille, 9°C in Nice and 10°C in Ajaccio.
The Weather Channel also predicts frosts “from Hauts-de-France to Normandy in the Grand Est”, which is confirmed by Météo France which announces frosts “widespread and severe in a North-East quarter, in places in the Centre-Val de Loire or the plains of the South-West.” Snow is also expected during this week according to The Weather Channel. She explains that the meeting between cold air and humid air from the Mediterranean “is conducive to the risk of snow episodes in the coming days.”
Snow is expected with light falls from this Monday in the French massifs, from the Alps to the Pyrenees via the Jura and the Massif Central. In a special press release, the site specifies that “5 to 10 cm of snow is expected from 500 meters above sea level, up to 15 to 20 cm around 1000 meters by Monday.” If the snow forecast remains to be refined, La Chaîne Météo indicates that a white coat could also be deposited further north “From the Loire Valley to Normandy to Brittany via Perche”.
