Météo-France has placed 14 additional departments in the North and North-East of the country on orange snow and ice alert on Saturday, January 4th. A weather event, starting Saturday evening and continuing into the night, will bring snow followed by freezing rain, according to the institute’s forecast

The affected departments include Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Eure, Côte-d’Or, Aube, Haute-Saône, and all of Île-de-France. These join the 16 departments already on alert: Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Seine-Maritime, Somme, Vosges, and Territoire de Belfort.

Météo-France reports that a disturbance, carrying warm air, will sweep across the country from south-west to north-east on Saturday and into Sunday night. This disturbance will meet a cold air mass, causing snow and, most notably, freezing rain for several hours, until the warm air takes over.

Météo-France has urged particular vigilance, as even small amounts of ice can be very disruptive to road traffic. Bison Futé also warned that driving conditions could be difficult in the affected areas and urged all road users to be extra cautious.