The cold wave is accompanied by several vigilances for snow and ice. This Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Météo-France places twelve departments on alert. Snowfall is expected through Thursday.
The snowy episodes continue in France. As the cold settles in the country with negative temperatures over the entire northern half, several departments are placed on alert in the face of the risk of snow and the formation of ice. No less than twelve departments are concerned by orange vigilance this Tuesday, December 13 according to Meteo France. The center-east and the north-west are affected and several centimeters of snow are expected in the regions of Brittany, Normandy and in the Rhone Valley where 2 to 6 cm of snow fell overnight and early in the morning after observations of meteorologists. “We are expecting an additional 10 to 20 cm of snow in the Center-East between this morning and this early afternoon above 800 meters in the Alps”, adds the Weather Channel in a statement released on Tuesday morning. In the west also a small layer of snow is expected with “up to 10 to 15 cm of snow locally, especially from Brittany to Normandy, to Pays de la Loire” between Tuesday and Thursday.
In addition to snow, it is freezing rain that is monitored by meteorological organizations. “The risk of slippery phenomena is high in Brittany and Lower Normandy, but the duration and intensity of the phenomenon remain to be specified later” writes in particular Météo France. The organization specifies that the risk is at its highest this morning until midday and in the evening from 6 p.m. then all night.
These snowy and freezing phenomena are due to a low pressure system and a “conflict of air masses between mild ocean air and cold Scandinavian air”, explains the Weather Channel. France is currently at the heart of the weather phenomenon, so the episodes of snow and ice are likely to extend and move east and continue until Thursday. Consequently, the levels of vigilance will have to evolve.
In the west, seven departments are placed in orange vigilance: Côtes-d’Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, Manche, Mayenne, Morbihan, Orme and Sarthe. It is in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes that the five other departments in orange vigilance are found: Ain, Loire, Rhône, Savoie and Haute-Savoie. 55 other departments are currently in yellow vigilance Snow-Ice, Avalanche or Extreme cold.