A cold snap is arriving in France this weekend with snow and frost. These Saturday, December 2 and Sunday, December 3 are marked by negative temperatures, well below seasonal norms.
The first weekend of December promises to be very cold. After the passage of disturbances, clear skies will prevail over a large part of France “which will cause temperatures to drop during the night from Friday to Saturday” warns The Weather Channel. Temperatures should also be 4 to 5 degrees below seasonal norms, and even “below what we should have during the month of January”, which is usually the coldest time of the year, underlines the specialized media.
Snowfall is expected this weekend, particularly in the northeast and center-east where the sky will remain gray. Snow will even be present in the plains, where it will however be quite weak and scattered. The reliefs should expect more significant and lasting falls, “the soils could then whiten temporarily and a few centimeters will be added to the layer already present in the mountains” specifies the meteorological channel.
In the Alps, heavier snowfall with an increase of up to 4 cm of new snow is announced, while the Weather Channel forecasts “a few flakes in the morning from the Massif Central and Rhône-Alpes going up towards Alsace and Lorraine from 200 to 300 m, 800 m near the Pyrenees.” It will be between -1°C and 9°C in these regions.
Despite the thin layer of snow, the Weather Channel announces dry and cold weather due to the rise in pressures. The country should expect minimums of between -2 and -5°C with a peak “up to -6 or -7°C in the Ardennes, Lorraine and Alsace.” These negative temperatures will lead to the presence of frost which is expected to last throughout the weekend in some cities, particularly in the northeast and central-east and could even intensify with the snow on the ground.
A few snowflakes could play overtime this Sunday, December 3 in Ile-de-France, Normandy and Hauts-de-France. Expected temperatures in these three regions are between -3°C and 7°C. But for the last day of the weekend, the Weather Channel especially announces “the generalization of frosts with on average -3 to -6°C from the Grand-Est to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with values between -10 and -20°C in the mountains on snow-covered ground. “It will be the coldest day of this winter episode” say the channel’s specialists.
Only the south seems spared from these forecasts this weekend. Near the Mediterranean, La Chaîne Météo announces beautiful sunshine with mild temperatures which will not drop into the negative. The wind will blow strongly, particularly the mistral and the tramontane with gusts of “nearly 100 km/h in gusts in Roussillon and Provence”. Corsica, placed on orange “wind” alert this Saturday, December 2 by Météo France, must expect wind gusts of up to 150 km/h, or even 180 km/h in places.