Heavy snow brings traffic woes to northern France

Thick snowfall added to the misery of the daily commute for millions of Parisians on Thursday, causing dangerous driving conditions for motorists heading into the centre of town.
The snowfall, only a week before Christmas, was a rarity for the French capital, which generally does not see snow before the late winter -- if at all. The snow was caused by cold air coming from Eastern Europe. A total of 51 departments (counties) in the northern part of the country went onto orange alert as authorities grappled with the climate conditions amid worries that the state electricity distribution network might not hold up in the face of sharply increased demand. Residents in Brittany and the Provence region of southern France have been warned that they may face power cuts lasting up to two hours. Officials at electricity distribution network RTE have said the cuts could affect tens of thousands of people at a time if they come. But with no threat of power cuts in the capital, ordinary Parisians were happy to enjoy the snow. "It would be even nicer if it settled a little and if we had 10 centimetres of snow that we could keep for three or four days," said Cecile de Tuny, a passer-by at the Arc de Triomphe.