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SEVERAL ACCIDENTS AND TRAFFIC JAMS REPORTED DUE TO POOR ROAD CONDITIONS. TEN DEPARTMENTS ON HEIGHTENED WARNING LEVEL FOR DRIVING CONDITIONS France is set to face its coldest day during the

CURRENT ‘COLD SPELL’ today (January 9), with temperatures below 0C in almost all of the country. Snow began to fall overnight, particularly in the north, and may continue throughout the day.

In Caen, up to 5cm of snow fell, and around 3cm in the Parisian suburbs. > ❄️ Ce matin du 9 janvier 2024, 3 à 5 centimètres de #neige > recouvrent le #Calvados, dont la ville de 

#Caen. Les chaussées sont > difficilement praticables avec une température de -3°C. (photo > @instantnormand) pic.twitter.com/7VZOnJbWIu > — Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) January 

9, 2024 The snow is causing severe issues for drivers in the north of France, particularly in Paris and its suburbs, as well as in Normandy. Nine departments are subject to increased weather

warnings for black ice/snowy driving conditions: Calvados, Orne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Manche, Essonne, Yvelines, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and Isère. Two major motorways, the A12 and A13, have

been temporarily closed “to ensure the safety of drivers,” and to clear traffic backlog, said a spokesperson from the Parisian police prefecture. You can read the prefecture’s statement on

the closures below: > Information Neige et verglas ❄️ >  > Autoroutes A12 et A13 fermées temporairement. > Consultez le communiqué de presse pour l’ensemble des > informations

 👇 pic.twitter.com/LJDDNa2K7m > — Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) January 9, 2024 Elsewhere, 48 departments have activated their _grand froid_ plan, providing additional resources to

those most vulnerable to the cold. These are mostly in the north of France, but departments in the Massif Central as far south as Aveyron have also launched the temporary measure. DANGEROUS

DRIVING CONDITIONS The tier-three orange warnings for poor driving conditions have been put in place because more snow is falling than expected in the north and “icy patches” remain on major

roads, says _Météo France_. Aside from the tier-three warnings, a further 48 departments are on a tier-two alert for poor driving conditions. The snowy conditions led to major road

accidents near the capital and in the Sarthe department overnight, as well as traffic jams as vehicles were forced to drive at a much-reduced speed. Traffic watchdog _Bison Futé_ announced

that more than 900 km of combined traffic jams were recorded across France before 07:00 today, with over 150 km of this in the Parisian suburbs. Transport Minister Clément Beaune announced

that around 400 vehicles in the Île-de-France region were “blocked” due to the snow, including on major motorways around the capital. Some videos of the scenes overnight were shared on

social media: > 🔴 De nombreux automobilistes ont passé la nuit bloqué dans > l’ouest parisien sur l’A13 et l’A12 à cause de la #neige et > du #verglas. >  > 👉 Le détail dans 

notre premier journal dès 6H et toute la > matinée sur ce compte. >  > (Source vidéo : Snapchat) pic.twitter.com/vXGhVJ1EUO > — ici Paris Île-de-France (@iciparisidf) January 9, 

2024 > Chaos sur l’A13 : des milliers d’automobilistes livrés à eux > même et bloqués dans leur voiture à cause de la #neige. > pic.twitter.com/P8VKGrneBA > — Clément Lanot 

(@ClementLanot) January 9, 2024 > 🔴 L’autoroute A13 paralysée ce lundi soir par la neige, le > verglas et les accidents à l’Ouest de Paris. >  > On relève 100 kilomètres de 

bouchons à 23h35 en région > parisienne, un niveau exceptionnel. >  > Crédit vidéo : Marw (Snapchat)#neige #Paris > pic.twitter.com/9RMdJK1wkb > — Kévin Floury (@kevinfloury) 

January 8, 2024 In addition, public transport services have been affected – for example, in Calvados school bus services have been cancelled, and lorries above a certain weight have also

been temporarily banned from driving in the department. > 🟠#Neige | POINT DE SITUATION 🟠 Il est tombé cette nuit, dans > le #Calvados, 3 à 5 cm de neige. >  > ❄️ Les 

précipitations devraient durer toute la matinée et les > hauteurs de neige pourront atteindre jusqu’à 8 cm localement. >  > 🚌 La circulation des véhicules de transports collectifs…

> pic.twitter.com/KJvtmM1OdV > — Préfet du Calvados (@Prefet14) January 9, 2024 School transport in the Eure et Loir, and Orne departments is also temporarily suspended. READ MORE:

POWER CUTS, TYRES, FIRES: 12 RULES FOR WINTER WEATHER IN FRANCE WILL CONDITIONS IMPROVE? Today is set to be the coldest of the week, with temperatures dropping drastically due to the arrival

of bitter winds from the north. Despite recording some of the coldest temperatures this morning – -7C in Aurillac, for example – the south of France should see conditions improve from

tomorrow (January 10) onwards. In the north, temperatures are set to stay below 0C in many places until potentially Friday, however it is unlikely that as much snow will fall as this

morning. However, icy conditions may still be a problem for drivers throughout the week. You can keep up to date with official weather announcements on the _Météo France_ WEBSITE, which

include snowy/icy road conditions (_neige-verglas_). It is likely that warning levels will change throughout the day (and especially during the evening) as weather conditions change. RELATED

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