Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Thibaut Durand / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 5:25 p.m., March 2, 2024
Météo-France has issued an orange alert for avalanches in the Hautes-Alpes and Savoie from Sunday.
Snowfall is expected in the coming hours.
Four departments, Loire, Haute-Loire, Lozère and Ardèche, have also been placed on orange snow and ice alert.
An orange avalanche alert has been issued for Hautes-Alpes and Savoie from Sunday, Météo-France announced on Saturday, which placed four departments on orange snow and ice alert.
20 to 30 centimeters of snow above 1,000 meters
“Transition to orange vigilance for avalanche activity, Sunday, in the departments of Savoie for the border sectors of Haute-Maurienne and the department of Hautes-Alpes for the border sectors of Queyras”, specifies the meteorological organization in its bulletin broadcast Saturday afternoon.
“The snow present on the Alps massif is associated with avalanche activity”, he adds, describing “often disturbed conditions this Sunday, with in particular snow at low altitude on part of the Massif Central and in the valley of the Rhône".
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After Haute-Loire and Loire, the departments of Lozère and Ardèche have been placed on orange snow and ice alert from 6 a.m. on Sunday.
“The disturbance which will affect a large south-eastern quarter of the country, will cause snow at low altitude, up to around 400 m” and “this sometimes heavy snow could make traffic conditions difficult on certain roads and cause some damage on vegetation or certain sensitive infrastructures (cables)", underlines Météo-France.
The expected quantities of snow are of the order of 5 to 10 cm from an altitude of 500 m, 20 cm above 1,000 m with locally 30 cm.
“The departments of Lozère, Ardèche, Loire and Haute-Loire seem to be the most affected for the moment, but other departments (on yellow alert) will also experience some locally significant snowfall,” according to Météo -France.