snow, ice… Arctic cold is coming to France

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Through a cloud of snowflakes, it is difficult to see the city of Metz (Moselle), Wednesday November 19. All the inhabitants of the Lorraine highlands found themselves under a white coat, the beginning of the year and freezing temperatures: – 4.4 degrees in the morning.

250 km away, there is already frost in Besançon (Doubs), which is preparing to see an increase in the intensity of the cold and the snow arrives. Construction workers are building a library, their feet on slabs completely covered in gel. Working conditions are difficult. “We tried to adapt, it’s true that the weather wasn’t very hot. But with a little work, we could warm up. When we came home in the evening, we took a hot shower and forgot about the day we’d had.”Confided Salim Ketif, a worker.

The risk is falling. To avoid this, you have to scrape the soil most of the day. Frost and cold can even delay construction sites. “Concrete cannot be poured if the temperature is negative. You have to adapt by choosing days when the temperature is positive“, explains Romain Mange, team leader at Albizzati.

It’s not just these workers who are afraid of the cold and have to adapt. With 0 degrees showing, market gardeners must protect their radishes and salads from loss. “Winter screens prevent plants underneath from freezing, also prevent dampness, and keep the soil warm. When it starts to freeze long and hard, we could lose our entire production.”says Émeline Vuillet, market gardener at Busy garden.

On the other hand, for other companies, the cold weather that hit was the peak of activity. Pascal Divers, an employee, came to deliver a ton of wood pellets. The requests don’t stop: “If it had been earlier, we would have done a tour by sector and so on, which people contacted directly, so we had to do it as quickly as possible..” Customers were surprised by extremely low temperatures in mid-November. “This year it’s earlier than usual. Usually January and February are cold“, judge Jean-Louis Valentin.

The cold temperatures will get worse in the coming days, with temperatures up to 10 degrees below seasonal normal. “Small depressions will once again bring even colder air temperatures, in the middle of the week and at the weekend. This is why we sometimes get snow all the way to the plains: because this air is arctic and across the ocean, it is moist and also cold.” explains Adrien Warnan, weather forecaster at Météo France.

Snowfall is possible in Île-de-France from Thursday 20 November, and especially over the weekend.