© Daniel FinnanParis's Luxembourg gardens, winter 2009
As in much of the rest of Europe, relatively heavy snow has hit lowlying areas three weeks earlier than usual. The cold is likely to move south at the weekend.
Temperatures will drop below zero overnight in some areas, with 0°C to 5°C during the day.
Although 2009's winter saw the heaviest snowfall for 30 years, it did not start in low-lying areas until December.
Snow has not arrived this early since 2005, when winter was also colder than last year. Any part of the country could be disrupted by the harsh weather this year, meteorologists warn.
Paris on Monday announced its plan to tackle the effects of cold this winter.
Six gymnasiums will provide emergency accommodation for the homeless as soon as the temperature falls below 10°C, adding 350 places to the 8,000 available throughout the year. Several other buildings will also be used as shelters.
Officials say that they still need to find another 13,000 places in the Ile de France region.
Each year 100 people die on the streets of the capital, according to city council employee Olga Trostiansky.
This article [Link]did not take long to appear and remind us that Paris is going to suffer from heat waves in 2070....
Heatwave warning for 2070
November 26, 2010
THE PARIS of 2070 will have the same climate as Seville today, according to French scientists.
The Observatoire national sur les effets du réchauffement climatique (Onerc) has published predictions that the capital will not suffer the cold winters currently buffeting the streets, but will be subject to a milder sunnier climate.
However, it adds that deadly heatwaves, like the one that struck Europe in 2003, killing between 10,000-15,000 people in France alone, will become more common.
"The summer of 2003 will be the average by 2070, meaning, one summer in two will be hotter," said Météo-France researcher Stéphane Hallegatte, presenting the figures yesterday.
While such heatwaves have been marked by the number of deaths, the general impact of hotter summers would be felt more widely, he said.
"People forget there are consequences beyond a higher death rate. There are delays in public transport, the breakdown of air-conditioning, small shops losing customers to bigger air-conditioned centres," added Mr Hallegatte.
Based on a rise in average temperatures of 3.5 degrees between now and 2070, the north of France will enjoy a Mediterranean type of climate, however, unlike urban areas around the Mediterranean, most towns and cities are not prepared for this.
Flash floods and subsidence are just some of the problems they will face, the report says.
THE east and centre of France are on orange alert for snow. The Côtes d'Armor, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Creuse, Charente, Dordogne and Corrèze departments could see difficult driving conditions.