On Monday, January 5, a powerful snow cyclone swept across the northern part of France, causing a massive transport collapse. Due to snow and ice, an orange alert level has been declared in 26 departments of the country, and a historical record of traffic jams has been recorded on the roads of the capital region. This is reported by BFMTV, writes UNN.
Details
According to the road traffic monitoring service Sytadin, at 5:50 PM, the total length of traffic jams in the Île-de-France region exceeded 1000 kilometers. This figure became an absolute record for the region, significantly surpassing the previous maximum of 2018 (739 km). As of the evening, the situation remains critical, despite a slight decrease in traffic intensity.
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Up to 4 centimeters of snow fell in Paris, 5 centimeters in Le Bourget, and up to 15 centimeters of snow is expected in some areas of Normandy, Vendée, and Charente-Maritime.
Government response and safety measures
The Paris police prefecture appealed to citizens to not overload emergency lines and to call only in cases of direct threat to life. Police spokeswoman Hélène Denéchère urged employers to switch employees to remote work as much as possible on Tuesday, January 6.
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Introduced restrictions:
- School and intercity bus services are completely suspended in the departments of Oise, Somme, and Mayenne.
- The speed limit on major highways in Île-de-France is restricted to 80 km/h.
- Trucks weighing over 3.5 tons are prohibited from entering key routes in the capital region.
- Airlines have reduced the number of flights from Paris airports by 15%.
Forecast and night operation mode
Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot stated that road conditions will remain "extremely difficult" until Tuesday morning due to severe frosts, which will contribute to the formation of black ice. To prevent icing of the rails, the RATP operator decided to launch empty metro and tram trains, which will run throughout the night.