Snowfall will cause many flights at Paris's two main airports to be cancelled early Wednesday, according to France's Transport minister Philippe Tabarot.
Public weather forecaster Metéo-France has placed 38 French departments on orange alert for Wednesday.
Although followed by a thaw, the phenomenon "will bring snow and, locally, freezing rain to a large part of the north of the country," it said.
At Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport – the main airport for long-haul services – 40 percent of scheduled flights between 9.00 am (08.00 GMT) and 2:00 pm will be cancelled to allow staff time to remove snow from runways and de-ice planes, France’s transport minister Philippe Tabarot said Tuesday in a press conference.
At Orly airport, 25 percent of flights will be cancelled between 6:00 am and 1:00 pm for similar reasons, he added.
Road travel
Tabarot "strongly" advised avoiding all road travel Wednesday in the Ile-de-France region due to this heavy snowfall forecast.
Heavy goods vehicles will be banned in western France and the Paris region, where the speed limit for light vehicles will be reduced to 70 km/h.
Six people dead in road accidents as France manages heavy snow and ice
On Tuesday, five airports were closed in western and northern France: Nantes, Vatry, La Rochelle, Albert-Bray (near Amiens), and Saint-Nazaire.
And heavy snowfall and icy conditions have killed at least six people on roads across France and caused major disruptions.
(with newswires)
