Weather: snow arrives in the plains in all these departments, temperatures drop

A deterioration is coming to France this week. While the rain will be abundant, snowfall and a freezing feeling are also announced in several departments.

While rather calm weather had settled in France, a significant deterioration, coming from the British Isles, will affect France this week. Heavy rain and a windy spell are forecast for the beginning of the week. Rainfall accumulations could exceed 40 to 50 mm, or even 60 to 70 mm locally. As for gusts, they will reach peaks of over 100 km/h. From Tuesday, November 19, the rains will intensify on the Lorraine plateaus and the Vosges. On Tuesday evening, a significant windy episode is expected in Finistère, Pays de la Loire and also in Franche-Comté.

Météo-France has placed the northern 2/3 of the country on yellow alert for Tuesday (as far as Charente-Maritime in the west and Haute-Savoie in the east). Most of them are on yellow alert for risk of strong winds but five departments (Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Seine-Maritime, Manche) are also on yellow alert for rain-flooding.

In addition, temperatures will gradually drop this week. From Wednesday, it will be very cold with temperatures that will become wintery, 3 degrees below seasonal norms on average. With the wind forecast, the feeling could be icy. Temperatures will no longer exceed 10 degrees in the afternoon in the north and even 7 degrees on Thursday. In Alsace and Franche-Comté, they could even fall below 0. 

© La Chaine météo

Snow will also be part of the from Tuesday and from 800 meters above sea level, especially in the Vosges, the Jura, the Northern Alps and the northern slopes of the Massif Central, according to La Chaine Météo. Haute-Savoie is also classified as yellow alert for avalanches this Tuesday, November 19. As and when As the week progresses, snowfall will increasingly occur at lower altitudes: it could reach the level of the plains, particularly in Lorraine, Alsace and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

On Thursday, Météo-France is forecasting snow in several large cities such as Alençon, Auxerre, Chaumont, Belfort, Chalon-sur-Saône and Gap. However, the snow will not necessarily be very persistent on the ground. A thaw is expected over the weekend, but rain and wind will persist in the north and west.