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White Christmas and Sharp Freeze in France as South Placed on Orange Rain Alert

Authorities expanded cold‑weather protections in roughly twenty departments after warnings of heavy Mediterranean rain intensifying into Friday.

Overview

  • Overnight snow reached low elevations from the Rhône valley to Brittany, leaving light accumulations and prompting road salting and de‑icing operations.
  • Paris recorded its first Christmas Day frost since 2010 at the Montsouris station, with national temperatures marking the coldest December 25 since that year.
  • Prefectures activated the plan grand froid in about 15–20 departments, adding shelter capacity and extending outreach; the Nord reported 385 extra places and reinforced maraudes.
  • MétéoFrance placed Aude, Haute‑Corse and Pyrénées‑Orientales under orange vigilance for crues and pluie‑inondation from Thursday evening into Friday, with local totals up to 150–200 mm and heavy mountain snow.
  • Forecasters flagged localized freezing‑rain risk in Tarn and Aveyron and cautioned that the Mediterranean episode would persist into the weekend before conditions gradually improve.