‘Remarkable’ early snowfall in French mountain ranges
Snow has fallen in the Alps and Pyrenees very early this year, with temperatures dropping significantly and “remarkable” amounts of snow forcing some roads to close.
Most of the snow has fallen above 1,500 metres. Authorities in Hautes-Pyrénées have closed several mountain roads, including the peaks of Soulor, Aubisque and Spandelles.
More snow is expected at even lower altitudes today, with the rain-snow line dropping to 1,100 metres overall. Between 10-30 cm is expected in the Jura, northern Alps, and the Massif Central.
Guillaume Woznica, a forecast expert at news channel LCI, said: “This quantity of snow has been seen in the past in September, but it is still [rare enough to be] remarkable.”
He compared the early snowfall to a similar situation seen in 2007, but said: “But this time, we have seen a clear dropping of temperatures and more snowfall. Only around 20cm of snow on average fell 13 years ago.”
The snow has been described as particularly surprising, given that autumn has only just started and summer was especially hot.
Online, users began to post photos of the early snowfall in ski stations across France.
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