Seine-et-Marne and parts of the Massif Central remained on orange snow ice alert on Sunday, November 23, Météo-France reported an average snow cover of one to four centimeters in Ile-de-France, which was hit by the first winter episode of the season overnight. According to its latest bulletin, the forecaster lifted the orange alert at 6 a.m. for the departments of Yvelines, Val-d’Oise, Essonne, Paris and the inner suburbs. Seine-et-Marne and Massif Central remained affected as of 8am.
“Weak, snow-producing disturbances, accompanied by very cold precipitation, continue from west to east, towards the northeastern part of the country,” reports meteorological organizations.
Six departments in the Massif Central (Aveyron, Cantal, Corrèze, Creuse, Haute-Vienne and Puy-de-Dôme) have been affected by the orange alert since 3am on Sunday, due to light snowfall and freezing rain. In this region, precipitation remained low and scattered: light snowfall in Cantal and west of Puy-de-Dôme, while Limousin recorded 1 cm in Limoges (Haute-Vienne) and 3 cm in Egletons (Corrèze).
Police headquarters have decided to reduce the official speed by 20 km/h throughout Ile-de-France and prohibit overtaking heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons on main roads. Trains should not be significantly affected, but delays of one hour were reported on Saturday evening in Roissy, and are likely to continue on Sunday.
“The first episode sometimes doesn’t take itself seriously enough”has warned the Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, of the crisis center mobilizing Météo-France, road services, civil aviation and transport operators. A total of 7,500 road officers were deployed this weekend.
