Snowfall has caused huge traffic jams and hampered train services in the Paris region as the French capital experiences its first real dose of wintry weather this season, reports FRANCE 24.
The Meteo France weather service put the greater Paris region on alert for snow and black ice on roads, among 28 departments it expected to be on alert across the country until late on Wednesday.
The weather caused major gridlock across the city, with more than 700 kilometres (430 miles) of traffic jams recorded by Tuesday evening, and similar congestion expected through Wednesday after the snowfall intensified overnight.
The absence of salt on slippery roads – let alone of snowploughs, a rarity in France – left many drivers fuming as they sat for hours in long queues.
The RATP transport authority said bus services had been interrupted in the capital, while school buses in two regions near Paris were also halted on Wednesday.
Meteorologists have warned that the snow could turn into treacherous ice sheets later in the day with temperatures expected to fall as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).