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WEATHER

France set for weekend traffic misery as school holidays begin amid sizzling heatwave

Motorists in France could be set for a miserable day on the roads this weekend, which marks the beginning of the school holidays. To make matters worse the mercury could touch 40C in parts of the country.

France set for weekend traffic misery as school holidays begin amid sizzling heatwave
Photo: AFP

France’s traffic info service Bison Futé is advising motorists to avoid travelling on Saturday, when tens of thousands of holidaymakers will head out of cities towards the coast or countryside.

The service has classed Saturday as red – the second highest level before black – meaning travelling on roads out of all major French cities will be “very difficult”.

Friday, the last day of school, has been classed as orange, meaning the roads will be “difficult” for most of the country, but Paris and its surrounding Ile-de-France region is classed as red, with thousands set to leave the capital after work on Friday afternoon and evening.

The main motorways heading south to the Mediterranean, such as the A6, are expected to be particularly problematic on Friday evening and all day Saturday.

The motorways A6, A7, A40, A41 et A43 could be problematic for drivers throughout the weekend.

Bison Futé is advising holidaymakers to delay their journeys until Sunday if possible, when the roads are expected to be clearer.

Or if you really want to leave Paris on the Friday then go before midday.

Other advice given out by Bison Futé is to avoid the areas around all big cities between 4pm and 8pm on Friday as well as the A7 autoroute between Lyon and Orange between 10am and 7pm.

For those insist on leaving on Saturday then they are advised to go before 6am as most people head away in the morning and early afternoon.

The traffic service has already released its forecast for the summer months and included a list of days when driving really should be avoided.

Certain days in the summer, notably the famous crossover on Saturday July 29 – when July holiday makers return home and those who go away in August take to the roads – have been classed black. CLICK HERE for more information on the days to avoid.

The prospect of being stuck in traffic jams this weekend is made worse by the fact that the country is experiencing some scorching temperatures and parts of central and eastern France are on alert for heatwave.

The departments of Ain, Allier, Isère, Jura, Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône and Saône-et-Loire are all on alert for scorching temperatures which are expected to last until Sunday.

Forecasters say temperatures will hover around the mid thirties but in certain areas on heatwave alert they could touch 40C.

 

 

WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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