Weather alert for snow and ice: 30 departments still on orange alert, what to expect in the next few hours ?

Météo-France has placed 30 departments on orange alert for snow and ice due to a disturbance that began to produce its effects at the end of the afternoon on Saturday and which should particularly affect the north and east of the country, on this last weekend of school holidays.

“A disturbance associated with a lot of mild air will sweep across the whole country in a southwest/northeast direction, this Saturday and the night from Saturday to Sunday. In the departments in orange, this disturbance will meet a mass of cold air, causing snowfall and especially freezing rain for a few hours, the time it takes for the mild air to finally win”, indicates the meteorologists' bulletin.

Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Seine-Maritime, Somme, Vosges and Territoire de Belfort were already placed on alert orange.

Then were added the departments of the Paris region, Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Eure, Côte-d'Or, Aube and Haute-Saône.

Saturday around 5 p.m., the first precipitations reached Orne in the form of rain“locally freezing” according to Météo-France.

Météo-France predicts snowfalls “generally quite brief”, but warns that “they may be more persistent in the border departments of the Grand-Est, potentially giving up to five centimeters on the ground”.

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Freezing rain could then last “between one and three hours, potentially causing traffic difficulties”.

Traffic conditions delicate

“Traffic conditions may be tricky in the affected areas“, also warns Bison Futé, which calls on road users to “be extra careful, and to find out about changes in weather and traffic conditions before setting off”.

In the Paris region, the speed limit is reduced by 20 km/h from 5 p.m. to midnight, on “all axes of the road network”, except the Paris ring road, the police prefecture indicated in a press release.

The prefecture calls for “vigilance” and “prudence“, recommending in particular to favor public transport, to equip your car with snow tires and to provide a “minimum equipment (warm clothing, food, water)” in case the vehicle is immobilized by the weather.

In the Hauts-de-France region, between Saturday 7 p.m. and Sunday 6 a.m., vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes will have to limit their speed to 110 km/h on sections of motorway normally limited to 130 km/h and to 90 km/h on sections of motorway and national roads normally limited to 110 km/h.

Vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes will not be able to exceed 80 km/h on national roads and motorways in the region and will be prohibited from overtaking.

In Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Jura and Territoire de Belfort, heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will no longer be able to drive from 7:00 p.m. This ban will be extended from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. to Marne, Haute-Marne, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône and Vosges.