Beware of heavy snowfall between Friday evening and the entire weekend 01/23/2026

January 23, 2026
10:12 pm

Snow at very low altitude in the Alps this Friday evening

Météo France services have placed the departments of Haute-Savoie, Savoie and Isère on orange snow & ice alert, valid this Friday, January 23, 2026 from 6 p.m. and until midnight. The episode will be short-lived but precipitation will be active with snowfall expected down to low altitudes. Furthermore, note that Brittany is on orange alert for multiple phenomena: storm in Finistère, rain-flood & waves-submersion for Finistère & Morbihan and floods in Laïta, Blavet and Oust.

Vigilance card in force this Friday January 23, 2026 – Weather France

From the end of the afternoon, a disturbance will reach the pre-Alps. It will sink into the Alpine chain in the evening. By isothermal effect, temperatures will drop and the snow will descend quickly from 1000 to 500 meters, or even occasionally around 300-400 meters under the most notable intensities. In the bottom of the valleys (Grenoble, Chambéry or Geneva), the snow will often be mixed with rain and will have difficulty holding on. On the other hand, a layer of 3 to 5cm can be trained in Annecy (or even more on the upper part of the city). We often wait 5 to 10 cm around 500 meters et 10 to 20 cm in the resorts (less in the border massifs). As it will be a heavy and sticky snow, it will easily hold and make the roads slippery even on the highways in the region.

Snow accumulations forecast for the evening of Friday January 23, 2026 – meteociel.fr

Snow on southern hills this weekend

New active precipitation will affect the south of France this Saturday January 24, 2026, particularly from the Mediterranean. Thus, sometimes heavy snowfall will affect the southern reliefs of the country. We wait 10 to 20 cm in the Cévennes or even locally 30 cm with a rain/snow limit dropping to around 600 meters due to isothermal effect. It will descend around 800 meters in the south of the Alps where we expect 5 to 10 cm, sometimes 15 cm in the Alpes-Maritimes. On the Pyrenees side, 5 to 10 cm will fall above 700 meters. The same quantities are planned in Corsica above 1200 meters.

Snow accumulations forecast for this Saturday, January 24, 2026 – Weather Cities

A new front will circulate from the southwest towards the Alps on Sunday January 25, 2026. It will give 10 to 15 cm on average (loc. 20 cm) in the Pyrenees with a rain/snow limit dropping from 1000 to 700 meters. In the Massif Central, we expect 5 to 10 cm with snowfall falling first around 900 meters then dropping to around 600 meters in the evening. In the Alps, the front will give meager accumulations but the rain/snow limit could drop to around 500 meters in the evening. Note also 5 to 10 cm on the Corsican relief from 1000 meters.