Heavy snowfall hits northern France, affects traffic

A heavy snowfall, coupled with a cold snap, has swept France's northern region including Paris and its suburbs, affecting traffic flows on roads, rails and in air. The national weather agency, Meteo France, on Tuesday forecast new strike of freezing weather till Wednesday morning. It also put 29 French departments, including the capital and its surroundings under orange alert for expected snowfall and frost. Due to the fresh wave of freezing weather, French civil aviation authorities DGAC has asked airlines in the country's two main airports of Charles de Gaulle and Orly to cut up to a quarter their flights on Tuesday. State railway operator SNCF said slowdown and delays would be expected and it recommended people not to go to Paris due to difficulties to guarantee services. The capacity of regional express trains TER was also limited with trains from and to the northern depatment of Lille canceled due to thick snow. Late on Monday, black ice and poor visibility on highways left 14 people wounded with two of them in serious situation in a road accident near Lille. "We are facing a quite exceptional snow. Heavy snowfalls have been reported in January and February, but never in March," Claude Fons, a meteorologist, told the local broadcaster Europe1.