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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

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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