Snow warning in Brittany, extreme cold in the north

Météo-France has placed six departments of Brittany and Hauts-de-France on orange "snow" or "great cold" vigilance, on the eve of the arrival on Tuesday of a disturbance which should cause snowfall on the northern half of the country.

As this disturbance approached, the four Breton departments were placed in orange "snow-ice" vigilance.

For this reason, "no school bus will run tomorrow (Tuesday) on Brittany", the Brittany Region told AFP.

"It has already been decided, in consultation with the operators, to cancel all the services. If the outward journeys could be provided, the return journeys were too risky," added the Region.

The first snowflakes are expected to fall on Brittany late Tuesday morning, after generalized morning frosts, according to Météo-France, which also fears a short episode of freezing rain.

The snowy episode will then continue its progression towards the east and the north of the country on Tuesday afternoon, and other departments could thus be placed on orange vigilance, especially in Normandy.

The mayor of Paris also called on the government on Monday to trigger the "extreme cold" plan 

Over the entirety of this snowy episode which should last until Wednesday, 5 to 10 centimeters of snow are expected over certain parts of Brittany, with locally sometimes 15 cm, making it one of the most striking episodes of this start of this season. 21st century, especially in terms of areas affected by snow in Brittany, "commented Météo-France on Twitter, recalling the previous" memorable episode "at the end of February 1986. Significant snowfall had taken place in Brittany at the beginning of 2018, but they had been much more localized.

3 to 7 cm of snow are also expected on a strip stretching from Normandy to Alsace, via Ile-de-France, according to Météo-France.

And the presence of snow on the ground could be "locally problematic, mainly in the Paris region".

And between 1 and 3 centimeters could also fall on certain areas of Hauts-de-France, but it is above all a cold episode that is reported by Météo-France in this region.

Due to the arrival of a mass of cold air, the Nord and Pas-de-Calais are thus placed in orange vigilance "great cold".

Temperatures of -5 ° C to -7 ° C are expected in these two departments, with a feeling between -14 ° C and -16 ° C due to a north-easterly wind, Météo-France said.

It will also be cold, especially in Normandy or the Paris region, with temperatures felt between -10 and -15 ° C on Wednesday and Thursday.

The mayor of Paris also called on the government on Monday to trigger the "extreme cold" plan which allows in particular the accommodation of the homeless.