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WEATHER

Drivers in France warned of transport chaos with winter storm on the way

Storm Gabriel is on its way to France and is set to bring with it violent winds, snow and freezing temperatures, with the country's transport minister warning that there is likely to be major disruption to roads and transport services.

Published: 29 January 2019 15:55 CET
Drivers in France warned of transport chaos with winter storm on the way
File photo: AFP
“This episode is likely to cause major disruption of road networks and transport services,” France's minister of transport Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday.
 
With weather warnings in place in a total of 43 departments in France, the transport minister Elisabeth Borne has also called on motorists to check out the situation on the roads before driving and to follow the instructions of the local authorities.
 
In the Ile-de-France region around Paris, heavy goods vehicles weighing over 7.5 tonnes and those transporting dangerous substances will be banned from the main roads from 9 pm. 
 
Around 5 to 10 cm of snow is expected in most areas and the busy RN 118 road in the Ile-de-France will be closed to all traffic from 3 pm due to expected snowfall. 
 
And police are urging drivers in the Paris region to leave work early on Tuesday with snow fall timed to hit the capital during rush hour. Motorists are also urged not to travel by car on Wednesday unless necessary.
 
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In 2018, an episode of heavy snowfall led to 950 cars being stuck on the RN 118 overnight.
 
Meteo France warned that the “snowy episode could make traffic conditions very difficult”, advising drivers to be “very cautious and vigilant” on the roads.
 
School transport services will be suspended on Wednesday across the whole of the Yonne department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France due to the heavy snowfall expected overnight on Tuesday. 
 
On Tuesday it was announced that school transport services will also be suspended in several other departments, including Seine-et-Marne, Essonne, Somme, Ardennes, Aisne and Hauts-de-France.
 
 
Due to strong winds, local authorities in the Landes departmemt announced that the speed limit had been lowered to 80km / h on all roads for all vehicles from 4 pm to 1 am.
 
Meanwhile in Paris where between 5 and 10 centimetres of snow is expected, 32 salt trucks are on standby to salt major highways, ring roads, bus lanes and very steep streets, Paul Simondon at the City of Paris told BFMTV.
 
This article will be updated with more information as we have it throughout the day
 
 
 
 
 

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WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Published: 30 April 2024 08:42 CEST
Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

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