Do adverse weather conditions affect driving rules in France?
Certain areas in France require drivers to use winter tyres from November to March
Drivers must be cautious in wet conditions
trendobjects/Shutterstock
Reader Question: Is it true that speed limits are reduced on French roads when it is raining?
French driving rules do indeed change in certain weather conditions.
Speed limits are reduced as soon as rain begins to fall no matter how intense the rain is.
The speed limit on motorways (autoroutes) drops from 130 km/h to 110 km/h. On motorways where the speed limit is already 110 km/h, this drops to 100 km/h.
On national and departmental roads where the speed limit is 90 km/h, it drops to 80 km/h in the rain.
However on departmental roads where the speed limit is 80 km/h there are no changes during the rain.
This is the same for roads with lower speed limits (70 km/h, 50 km/h, 30 km/h) which also remain unchanged.
Penalties for breaking the speed limit in wet weather remain the same, however stricter penalties begin if driving 10 km/h above the speed limit, as opposed to 20 km/h when in dry weather.
Read more: Driving rules and penalties tighten in France: key changes explained
Are there other rules?
Most other rules depend on the visibility from your vehicle.
In heavy fog and other weather that negatively affects visibility, your speed limit is reduced to 50 km/h if you cannot see more than 50 metres ahead of you.
Otherwise, the general rule is to stick to the ‘three equals’ – the speed of your vehicle, distance between you and other vehicles, and level of visibility, should all remain the same.
For example, if you can see 80 metres ahead of you, you should make sure that you remain at least 80 metres away from vehicles ahead of you, and drive at a maximum of 80 km/h (if the road you are on permits this speed). This should drop to 70 km/h, if your visibility is only 70 metres etc.
There are no specific speed limit rules when driving in snowfall (other than the general limit of 50 km/h in poor visibility).
However cautious driving is recommended as snow means your car has less grip, and you therefore have less control over the vehicle.
Between November 1 and March 31 certain areas in France require drivers to use winter tyres (or a suitable alternative) on their vehicles.
The affected areas can change a little each year, but are generally the more mountainous and hilly departments.
You can see below which areas were so designated in 2024.
Read more: MAP: The French areas that required snow tyres in 2024
