Snow in France brings traffic to grinding halt

Thousands of lorries were brought to a standstill in France as snow battered the country and temperatures plummeted. The early cold snap caught authorities unaware.

Emergency vehicles work along the side of the RN12 near Bedee in western France Reuters

The unseasonal cold snap has surprised French authorities, which were scrambling to clear roads and pavements. On Thursday evening, 32 French departments in northern and central France were on orange alert, which means dangerous weather conditions are expected and drivers should be very careful.

In the French regions of Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne and Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 10,000 lorries grinded to a halt on Wednesday evening and were unable to move until Thursday morning.

A quarter of flights were cancelled at the Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, as well as 10 per cent of flights at Orly airport. France’s rail company SNCF said 20 per cent of its fast TGV trains were cancelled on Thursday.

French authorities have called on Britanny residents to reduce their consumption of electricity, in an effort to prevent power cuts. On Thursday evening, France’s electricity consumption was expected to reach 91,300 megawatts. That's just below the record level of 93,100 megawatts reached in February.

Eurostar, which runs trains between London and Paris and Brussels, cancelled more than 20 trains Thursday and advised customers to postpone their journeys. Those that do travel could be subject to delays of up to 90 minutes, it said.

The freezing weather has claimed 28 lives across central Europe this week, including 18 deaths, mostly of homeless men, since Tuesday in Poland, where temperatures plunged to minus 33 degrees Celsius.