Heavy snowfall has paralyzed traffic in central and northern France. A collision with several cars occurred near Paris, more than 30 people were injured. There was also a huge traffic jam on several highways – more than two thousand trucks were stuck in one place.
Hurricane Caetano passed over France on Thursday. In the northern and central regions of the country, there was an area of heavy snowfall, and drivers had to deal with slippage and slow performance. The movement of airplanes also took place.
Instructions for thousands of trucks
Heavy snowfall caused many road accidents. The most serious incident occurred in the Marne Valley near Paris, where four passenger cars, a bus and a motorcycle collided. The police reported that due to bad weather conditions, one of the drivers lost control of the car and forced the bus driver to pull over. The bus rolled onto its side, hitting another car and a motorcycle. 36 people were injured, five of them seriously.
Conditions were also difficult near France's eastern border. Between 2,000 and 2,500 lorries were stuck on the snow-covered A36 on Friday, according to the Department of Transport. The sudden drop in temperature in the morning caused the road to freeze, making it impossible to continue moving. In Normandy, there was also a kilometer-long traffic jam on the A28 highway.
Hundreds of thousands of people without electricity
“Le Monde” newspaper wrote that 270,000 customers were cut off due to severe weather conditions. Around 200,000 households, mainly in Normandy and the Loire Valley, were without power at 7am on Friday.
According to the information of the French Meteorological Agency, although the storm Caetano has already left France, the meteorological situation is as difficult as before. As of Friday afternoon, 51 departments, mostly in northern France, were under snow and ice warnings.
Main photo source: ENEX
