France warns travellers of snow and ice after serious floods

PARIS – After the floods, now the cold.

France’s national weather agency Meteo France said Monday about half the country is on alert for dangerous levels of snow and ice. The area includes 45 departments from the Atlantic coast to the German border, and from Paris down toward southern France.

Urging people to limit their movement, Meteo France is also maintaining its orange alert — the second-highest warning level — for floods along the Seine River basin. Floodwaters peaked in Paris last week but the decrease in flood level has been very slow.

Meanwhile, the French Alps and Pyrenees are under a lower-level alert for avalanches.

The weather agency says the snow episode in lower-lying France is not exceptional but serious enough to make roads dangerous. Sporadic snow forecast throughout the week.