Snowfall Brings Traffic Chaos Across Paris And Northern France

PARIS, Jan 7 (Bernama-dpa) -- Snowfall has caused traffic chaos in the French capital, Paris, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

The RATP transport company announced on Wednesday that bus services throughout the city would be suspended until the afternoon.

Trams, the metro and RER trains were also affected by the weather, and flights at the city's airports were reduced in the morning.

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called on people in the Paris region to postpone their morning journeys.

Snow which remains on the ground overnight has been a rare occurrence in Paris in recent years. However, the snowy winter front also caused restrictions in other parts of the country, from the north to the mid-west.

School buses and lorries are not permitted to drive in areas under a second-highest, orange-level snow warning. Bus services were also suspended in the northern city of Lille.

Nationwide, traffic jams caused by the weather totalled 1,650 kilometres, according to reports in the newspaper Le Parisien and on the BFMTV channel.

-- BERNAMA-dpa