Snow covers roads, disrupts traffic in France, and kills 5 people

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Snow covers roads, disrupts traffic in France, and kills 5 people

Cause Snow fell and ice formed, killing at least five people on French roads and There was a major traffic disturbance, while the Ministry of Transport acknowledged that the Meteorological Authority did not expect the matter to be this bad.

And on Tuesday, three people died in two accidents due to ice in the southwest, while a driver died whose car fell into the Marne River in the Paris region.

The two accidents came the day after the death of a truck driver that slid due to ice in the Paris region as well.

Mechanisms followed

Transport Minister Philippe said Tabaro said that the meteorological services did not expect the weather to be this bad, calling for a reconsideration of the mechanisms used in this regard.

He added that the night from Monday to Tuesday was nevertheless better in the Paris region, where measures had been taken to avoid cars sliding on the roads while residents were returning to their homes, or to avoid falling into stifling congestion.

The unusually heavy accumulation of snow led to major disturbances as well in the railway network.

Warning Orange

The Meteorological Service issued an orange warning for snow and ice, which is the second in a series of four colors, the highest of which is extremely dangerous red. But she returned and raised it at 10 a.m.

The Meteorological Service said "The temperature is very low, ranging between -3 degrees and -8, up to -10 degrees, which is what caused ice to form."

One of those stranded in their cars described the road condition in the southwest of the country as: "It’s like a skating rink"

Weather Forecast

Roads are expected to witness disruption on Wednesday as well, with… "Snow and hail fall in a wide area of northern France"according to the Meteorological Authority "Meteo France"

The poor weather caused the suspension of school transportation in several regions, including Brutany (west), where residents were not accustomed to these conditions, and also in Vendée (west), where the thickness of the snow was also unusual.

The National Railway Company announced on Tuesday morning that a number of lines in western France had stopped operating and the movement of some trains had slowed down on some lines.

Restart

In Paris, things were improving, Tuesday morning. About thirty lines of the bus network were restarted after the snowfall caused them to stop.

Like a number of European airports, the weather conditions caused disruption in the movement of aircraft taking off and landing at the main Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris.

The Minister of Transport said on Monday that 250 snow plows were placed on alert at the two airports.