Tough weekend on roads in France as forecaster issues black alert

Another tough weekend is forecast on the roads in France from today as the second weekend in the August holiday season gets underway, ahead of the public Assomption holiday on Monday (August 15).

Tomorrow, Saturday, August 13 is forecast to be the most difficult day.

Traffic service Bison Futé has today (Friday, August 12) issued:

Friday, August 12: Yellow alerts (“difficult traffic”) in the ‘departure direction’ for the Ile-de-France and Paris region, and the southeast, and yellow alerts for the entire country in the ‘return direction’, rising to red (“very difficult traffic”) in the southeast.

Saturday, August 13: Red alerts across the whole country in both the departure and returning directions, and black alert (“extremely difficult traffic”) in the southeast for departure.

Sunday, August 14: No alerts for most of the country in both directions, except for a yellow alert in the very far southeast for departures, and yellow alerts for the southeast quarter of the country in the returning direction.

The ‘departure direction’ means heading away from major towns and tourist destinations, and the ‘returning direction’ means the opposite.

Read more: What does ‘direction of departures’ mean?

In closer detail, the forecaster has advised:

Friday, August 12

Departing direction (away from major towns):

• leave or cross Île-de-France before 12 noon,
• avoid the A10 motorway between Paris and Orléans from 14:00 to 20:00
• avoid the A63 motorway, between Bayonne and Spain, from 08:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A7 motorway, between Lyon and Orange, from 11:00 to 21:00 and between Orange and Marseille, from 14:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Orange and Narbonne, from 10:00 to 21:00,
• avoid the A75 motorway, between Millau and Lodève, from 15:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A62 motorway, between Bordeaux and Toulouse, from 15:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Toulouse and Narbonne, from 15:00to 20:00,
• avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel in the direction of Italy, from 12:00 to 15:00 (delays of more than 30 minutes).

Returning direction (towards major towns):

• return to or cross Île-de-France before 14:00,
• avoid the A10 motorway, between Bordeaux and Paris, from 14:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A63 motorway, between Spain and Bayonne, from 17:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A6 motorway, between Lyon and Beaune, from 15:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A7 motorway, between Marseille and Lyon, from 10:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A8 motorway, near Aix-en-Provence, from 10:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Narbonne and Orange, from 11:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A62 motorway, between Toulouse and Agen, from 14:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Narbonne and Carcassonne, from 14:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel on the way back to France, from 14:00 to 21:00 (waiting time of more than 1 hour).

Saturday, August 13

Departing direction (away from major towns):

• leave or cross Île-de-France after 08:00,
• avoid the A1 motorway, between Paris and Lille, from 10:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A84 motorway, between Caen and Rennes, from 10:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the A11 motorway, between Paris and Le Mans, from 08:00 to 19:00 and between Le Mans and Angers, from 08:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the RN157 national road, between Laval and Rennes, from 10:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the RN165 national road, between Nantes and Lorient, from 11:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A10 motorway, at the Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines tollgate, from 06:00 to 14:00 and between Paris and Bordeaux, from 07:00 to 17:00
• avoid the A63 motorway, between Bordeaux and Spain, from 09:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A6 motorway, between Beaune and Mâcon, from 08:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the A7 motorway, between Lyon and Orange, from 06:00 to 18:00 and between Orange and Marseille, from 09:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A54 motorway, between Nîmes and Salon-de-Provence, from 10:00 to 16:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Orange and Narbonne, from 07:00 to 17:00 and between Narbonne and Perpignan, from 08:00 to 17:00,,
• avoid the A20 motorway, between Limoges and Brive-la-Gaillarde, from 10:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the A71 motorway, between Orléans and Bourges, from 09:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the A75 motorway, between Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Flour, from 10:00 to 12:00, and between Millau and Lodève, from 08:00 to 18:00,
• avoid the A750 motorway, between Lodève and Montpellier, from 11:00 to 13:00,
• avoid the A62 motorway, between Bordeaux and Toulouse, from 09:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Toulouse and Narbonne, from 08:00 to 16:00,
• avoid the A43 motorway, between Lyon and Chambéry, from 10:00 to 16:00
• avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel in the direction of Italy, from 12:00 to 20:00 (delays of more than 30 minutes).

Returning direction (towards major towns):

• return to or cross Île-de-France before 14:00,
• avoid the A83 motorway, between Niort and Nantes, from 10:00 to 16:00,
• avoid the A84 motorway, between Rennes and Caen, from 10:00 to 15:00,
• avoid the RN165 national road, between Lorient and Vannes, from 11:00 to 15:00,
• avoid the A10 motorway, between Bordeaux and Paris, from 10:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A63 motorway, between Spain and Bayonne, from 11:00 to 13:00,
• avoid the A6 motorway, between Lyon and Beaune, from 9:00 to 18:00,
• avoid the A7 motorway, between Marseille and Orange, from 08:00 to 17:00 and between Orange and Lyon, from 09:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A8 motorway, between Italy and Fréjus, from 10:00 to 12:00 and between Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence, from 09:00 to 14:00,
• avoid the A54 motorway, between Salon-de-Provence and Nîmes, from 10:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Perpignan and Narbonne, from 10:00 to 13:00 and between Narbonne and Orange, from 09:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A20 motorway, between Brive-la-Gaillarde and Limoge, from 10:00 to 13:00
• avoid the A71 motorway, between Clermont-Ferrand and Orléans, from 13:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A62 motorway, between Toulouse and Bordeaux, from 09:00 to 17:00.
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Narbonne and Toulouse, from 09:00 to 17:00,
• avoid the A43 motorway, between Chambéry and Lyon, from 09:00 to 13:00,
• avoid the A48 motorway, between Grenoble and Lyon, from 10:00 to 12:00,
• avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel on the way back to France, from 14:00 to 21:00 (delays of more than 1 hour).

Sunday, August 14

Departing direction (away from major towns):

• avoid the A63 motorway, between Bayonne and Spain, from 10:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A7 motorway, between Lyon and Orange, from 09:00 to 19:00 and between Orange and Marseille, from 14:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Orange and Narbonne, from 10:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Carcassonne and Narbonne, from 10:00 to 12:00

Returning direction (towards major towns):

• avoid the A7 motorway, between Marseille and Lyon, from 09:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the A9 motorway, between Narbonne and Orange, from 10:00 to 20:00,
• avoid the A61 motorway, between Narbonne and Carcassonne, from 17:00 to 19:00,
• avoid the Mont-Blanc tunnel on the way back to France, from 13:00 to 20:00 (delays of more than 1 hour).

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