Météo France extended the orange snow-ice vigilance to 23 departments this Monday, January 5, 2025. Up to ten centimeters are expected locally between the west coast of France and Île-de-France.

Watch out for snowfall at the start of the week. 23 departments have been placed on orange snow and ice alert by Météo France for the day of Monday, January 5.

“A few centimeters of snow fell on certain coastal departments of the Channel during the night, in particular Seine-Maritime. It is freezing quite heavily over most of the country,” notes Météo-France.

From 2 to 15 centimeters expected

Snowflakes will continue to fall this Monday morning “on the coastal departments of the Channel, mainly between Brittany and Normandy”. Later in the day during the afternoon, these snowfalls will extend “towards the Pays de Loire and the Paris basin”. Before finally reaching Poitou-Charentes in the evening.

“Up to 3 to 7 centimeters are expected in Normandy with maxima around 10 centimeters possible on the heights. Up to 5 to 10 centimeters in Brittany, Pays de Loire and up to Charente-Maritime with maxima around 15 centimeters for Vendée and Charente-Maritime which are therefore the departments most exposed to heavy snowfall” according to the bulletin. Météo-France.

On the Île-de-France side, we expect around 2 to 3 centimeters, or even up to 5 centimeters in the large suburbs. The first snowfalls are expected from 2-3 p.m. in Yvelines and the last ones around 11 p.m. in Seine-et-Marne, raising fears of a rapid refreezing of the roads.

Due to the particularly cold weather in France currently, the snow should easily stick to the ground in these territories. The authorities are calling for vigilance, particularly on the roads, while the meteorological institute warns that a further extension of orange vigilance could occur during the day.