France experienced one of the coldest Christmas and New Year periods since the beginning of the millennium, and temperatures are expected to remain below seasonal averages for more than a week, with snow and ice forecast
Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall are expected across much of France over the weekend, with snow on the ground likely to make Monday’s big post-Christmas return to work potentially tricky.
It was the coldest New Year’s Eve since 1997, according to Météo-France.
Christmas Day, meanwhile, was the coldest since 2010 — and the cold that gripped France on the final day of 2025 is expected to continue for several more days with temperatures expected to remain below seasonal norms until around January 10th.
On Friday, national forecaster Météo-France issued yellow alerts for extreme cold, snow, and avalanches in 61 départements: Aisne, Allier, Hautes-Alpes, Ardennes, Aube, Calvados, Cantal, Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Corse-du-Sud, Haute-Corse, Côte-d’Or, Côtes-d’Armor, Creuse, Doubs, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Jura, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Haute-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Loiret, Lozère, Maine-et-Loire, Manche, Marne, Haute-Marne, Mayenne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Morbihan, Moselle, Nièvre, Oise, Orne, Puy-de-Dôme, Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Savoie, Seine-Maritime, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Deux-Sèvres, Somme, Vendée, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Vosges, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort, Essonne and Val-d’Oise.
It forecasts that figure will rise to 67 on Saturday, with eastern areas of the country — the Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes — worst-hit by the cold conditions.
But while a number of cities have activated their grand froid plans, in part because the of the wind-chill factor as a brisk north-easterly blows across large swathes of the country, forecasters have not yet officially declared the frozen spell a nationwide cold snap, which has a particular definition.
At least three consecutive days during which ‘temperatures remain clearly below seasonal norms’ are needed before forecasters in France declare a countrywide ‘cold snap’.
For an episode to be identified at a national level, the average daily temperature across the country (known as the national thermal indicator) must meet a number of criteria:
- Temperatures must dip below −2C at least once;
- The national (or regional) average daily temperature must remain below 0.9C for two days;
- A cold snap is declared over when the average temperature rises above 2.2C.
According to La Chaîne Météo, the average national temperature on Friday was between -0.3 and -1.1%, some 6C below normal values. But still noticeably above the -2C limit.
Some 30 départements, including those in the greater Paris region, have activated their grand froid plans, which allow for extended opening hours at day centres, increasing the number of available emergency shelter spaces, and increasing outreach efforts to check on vulnerable people.
The cold has already been fatal. On January 1st, a homeless man was found dead in a shopping area near Chartres. On December 30th, a 28-year-old homeless man was found frozen to death in a warehouse near Montpellier.
Periods of extreme cold, meanwhile, can lead to potentially dangerous weather phenomena, such as snow and black ice, which can disrupt road, rail, and air traffic.
Temperatures are not expected to pass above zero in parts of eastern France, where conditions look certain to meet the criteria for a regional cold snap next week. Night-time temperatures are forecast to dip as low as -10C — but the threshold is currently not expected to be reached for forecasters to declare a nationwide one.
In western and southern France, heavy overnight frosts are expected even in Mediterranean areas. However, daytime temperatures should rise to between 2C and 7C.