Drivers told to delay trips as snow hits Paris and northern France

Snow hit the north of France in earnest last night, with up to 10cm of snow in many areas - and up to 15cm in parts of Normandy. Snow is still falling in some places.

Heightened warnings for neige-verglas (icy and snowy road conditions) remain in 20 northern departments, as well as five in the south, with bitter cold winds expected to move the snow southwards today.

Drivers in the Île-de-France capital region are being advised to “do everything possible… to delay or postpone journeys” on the road network.

The Direction des routes d'Île-de-France, which manages many roads in and around the capital, issued the alert after a number of accidents last night, including on the A6 and N2.

If you still need to drive today, you can read our article below which gives some tips for driving in poor winter conditions.

Read more: How to see road updates in France and tips for driving in snow and ice

Despite significant snowfall, temperature differences of more than 10C were recorded in departments directly north and south of Paris today, in towns only a few kilometres apart.

The collision of the cold winds of depression Irène and warm Mediterranean winds previously covering the north – is causing this phenomena.

The bitter northern winds had not yet moved past Paris this morning, meaning departments directly south of the capital were still experiencing mild weather from the warmer winds.

Traffic jams and impacted transport after snow

Snow started falling early yesterday evening across most of the north, with drivers impacted overnight.

Traffic watchdog Bison Futé recorded 1,285 km of traffic nationally at 09:00 today.

Many bus routes in Paris and the surrounding departments are delayed due to the snow, with only one in four buses running, and suburban train lines affected. A rush of users on the SNCF Connect and RATP travel applications, looking for travel information, caused both apps to temporarily crash.

Public transport in other northern cities is also affected, including in Reims where trams were unable to operate this morning.

Flights to and from Paris’ two major airports are not affected (as of 9:00 today).

School transport services have been cancelled and heavy goods vehicles are temporarily banned from driving in most northern departments – you can check with your local prefecture to see if this is the case where you live.

Speed limits have also been lowered to 20 km/h in some departments close to Paris.

Authorities are concerned that the return of rain across most of the north will cause settled snow to turn to sludge or make roads extremely slippery for drivers.

Read more: Cold in France: tips on what to eat and how to prepare home

Temperature difference of 20C, but cool winds move south

Alongside the surprising differences around Paris, there was again a national temperature difference of around 20C this morning.

Temperatures in the north are lower than seasonal averages, whilst in the south-west, where the warmer winds are prominent, temperatures are between 8C and 12C higher than usual for January.

This is not set to last, however, as depression Irène is expected to sweep south throughout the day.

Areas of the south will see temperatures fall by around 10C by Friday, affecting almost the entire area except the Mediterranean coastline in the south-east.

The previously forecast snow in the south-west is now unlikely, however.

Temperatures in the north will remain cold until at least the weekend when some departments plan to reactivate their grand froid measures.

You can keep up with weather warnings on the official Météo France website. Note that as weather conditions progress throughout the day, changes to these warnings are likely to take place.

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