Eight French departments have been placed on snow and black ice alert due to an expected weather perturbation starting from midnight Sunday. The regions of Brittany and Normandy have announced the suspension of school transports for Monday, January 5. Snowfalls of 3 to 7 cm are forecast, with circulation difficulties expected.
A polar cold wave descending from Scandinavia to Morocco, crossing Europe and France, is causing harsh winter conditions. In the eastern part of the country, temperatures will drop drastically on Monday, reaching between -5 and -15 °C at night, with negative daytime values until at least Wednesday, according to La Chaîne Météo.
Eight departments are on snow and black ice alert: Seine-Maritime, Eure, Calvados, Manche, Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes-d'Armor, Somme, and Finistère. Météo-France states that «from midnight, the first snow showers will set in along the coasts of Calvados, Seine-Maritime, and Eure with rapid ground holding due to negative temperatures».
In Brittany, the region has decided «in close coordination with state services, to suspend school transports for the entire day of January 5 for the four departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine», as announced in a press release. Interurban transport circulation is maintained for now, but difficulties are expected, and the region calls for utmost vigilance.
In Normandy, due to Météo-France's orange alert, school transport lines are suspended across all Norman departments. The region will quickly inform families, schools, and local authorities. Commercial lines remain operational only in Orne.
On the national road network, heavy goods vehicle circulation will be banned on certain axes from 10 a.m., with storage zones set up, according to the Brittany prefecture. From Manche to Finistère, snowfalls will start in the morning and continue into the afternoon, with 3 to 7 cm widespread and up to 10 cm on heights. The perturbation will then move to the Paris basin, Pays de la Loire, and Ardennes in the afternoon, then Aquitaine in the evening and Midi-Pyrénées overnight.
