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WEATHER

France hit by big chill as snow and ice warnings extended across country

Much of the northern half of France from Brittany in the west to Alsace in the east was on alert for snow and winter conditions on Tuesday as an icy spell saw temperatures plummet.

Published: 8 February 2021 16:13 CET
Updated: 9 February 2021 17:33 CET
France hit by big chill as snow and ice warnings extended across country
Snow is forecast across much of the northern half of France this week. Photo: AFP

Temperatures across the north of the country plunged over the weekend, but French weather forecaster Météo France said things will get even chillier in the coming days.

By Tuesday evening 36 départements were placed on orange alert (the second highest level) on Tuesday, as weather agency Météo France warned of exceptional volumes of snow, icy roads and intense cold that required vulnerable people to take precautions.
 
 

The départments on alert are: Finistère, Morbihan, Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Sarthe, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Yonne, Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Territoire de Belfort, Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, Vosges, Haute-Soâne, Aube, Seine-et-Marne, Orne, Calvados, Manche, Essonne, Yvelines, Paris, Val-d'Oise, Eure, Haut-Marne, Ain, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine, Somme, Pas-de-Calais, Nord and Aisne.
 
On Tuesday heavy snow fell in parts of Brittany as the video below in Saint Brieuc on the north coast demonstrates.
 

The tweet below shows the snowy beaches in Dinard.
 

 
 

Earlier on Tuesday the interior ministry asked people in the areas of concern to avoid travel, and stay up to date with conditions and forecasts locally.

 

On Wednesday temperatures in Paris are set to fall to -5C, while the Hauts-de-France region will be -10C.

“This week promises to be very cold from the Belgian borders via the Paris Basin to Brittany,” said the forecaster.

 

There are also set to be significant snowfalls with up to 10cm of snow in Brittany and up to 15cm in Normandy on Tuesday, with snow also expected in the greater Paris Île-de-France region.

Météo France said it will remain very cold all week.

Meanwhile in the south of country, it will be warmer but more rain is forecast, set to worsen the flooding that parts of southern France saw last week.

Only one département in the south remains on orange alert for floods though – Charente Maritime.

 

 

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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.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
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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