A total of 29 departments were placed on orange alert - the second highest warning - in France on Wednesday morning by the country's national weather agency Meteo FranceTwenty-five departments in the north and central France were on alert for ice and snow while four in the south west were on alert for avalanches. The departments on alert for ice and snow were Aisne, Ardennes, Aube, Cher, Côte-d'Or, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Marne, Nièvre, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Saône-et-Loire, Paris and the area immediately outside the city known as the "Petite Couronne", Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Somme, Yonne, Essonne and Val-d'Oise. Meanwhile the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Ariège and Haute-Garonne were on alert for avalanches. The alerts are expected to remain in place until Thursday at 6 am and people in these areas are advised to be vigilant due to the risk of dangerous weather. Map: Meteo France

Source: The Local January 23, 2019 08:35 UTC