The intense cold and snowfall, which had not been anticipated by the meteorological services, caused serious problems this Tuesday. circulation in the northwest of France and in the Paris region.
The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, explained this morning in statements to the RMC radio station that at night About 1,000 vehicles were blocked on the A13 motorway that runs from Paris to Normandy, especially upon his departure from the capital, although the number had been reduced to about 400 when he spoke after 7:00 local time (6:00 GMT).
The A13 was closed in a 10-kilometre section and the same measure was taken on the A12 motorway, which runs from Paris towards Brittany.
Beaune related this situation to the fact that at the beginning of the night there was “an episode of snow that Météo France did not expect”, that this morning it had to correct its forecasts and that it has also activated the orange alert for snow and ice in four departments of Normandy (Manche, Calvados, Orne and Eure) and in two others in the Paris region (Yvelines and Essone).
As a preventive measure, school transport has been canceled in the Eure and Loire, Orne and Calvados departments.
The fact is that, especially south of the Ile de France and in Normandy, several centimeters of snow fell during the night, causing some situations of chaos in circulation.
Météo France specified that at 7:00 a.m. local time, 6 centimeters had already accumulated at the airport in the city of Caen, in Normandy, or 2 centimeters at the Paris airport of Orly and in the city of Trappes.
Meteorological services now believe that more snow could fall in Normandy in the coming hours, bringing the accumulation It will be between 3 and 8 centimeters and locally it will reach 10, a “snow situation notable enough to significantly affect circulation.”
Last night there were frosts of up to 5 degrees below zero in the interior of Brittany and up to 7 below zero in the northeast of France and temperatures will not go above 0 throughout the day in much of the north and interior of the country. .
Météo France did not want to qualify this meteorological phenomenon, which will last until the weekendlike a cold wave because it does not reach the intensity required for that.
EFE
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