Heavy snowfall lashes southeast France and due to it one person dead and cut power to some 200000 houses, with icy conditions snarling train and road traffic. A 63-year-old motorist died on Thursday evening in the town of Roche, in northern Isère, after a tree fell.
The man was trying to move a tree that had fallen under the weight of snow around 7pm, with the help of other people, when a second tree fell on them. A 27-year-old man was also injured and hospitalised in Bourgoin-Jallieu.
Snowfall has caused power cuts, depriving some 300,000 households of electricity in four departments – Ardèche, Rhône, Isère and Drôme – according to energy provider Enedis.
“Our teams are being deployed but the situation is still evolving,” said Enedis.
The Ardèche, like the Rhône, Loire, Ain, Isère, Drôme and Saône-et-Loire, was on orange snow-ice alert on Thursday.
Up to 20 centimetres of snow at low altitude and up to 30 centimetres in higher areas was expected overnight, according to Météo France.
In Isère, the prefecture has called on the population to postpone any non-essential travel, whether by car or on foot, and not to engage in snow removal or antenna restoration operations on a roof, for example, which could prove dangerous.
In the Loire, school transport was suspended on Friday, the departmental council announced Thursday evening, stating that “schools will nevertheless remain open”.
Heavy snowfall across France
