Hundreds of vehicles trapped during the night which also passed this morning on the streets of the Paris region from snow and ice, as France faces a cold wave.

Up to “1,000 vehicles”, trucks and cars, were stranded “when night fell” and then “800” in the early hours of the morning, Transport Minister Clement Bonn announced.

The issue is being “resolved”, Bohn told RMC radio, adding that around 400 vehicles were still stranded as of early this morning.

The difficulties concern particularly the A13 motorway which connects Paris with Normandy on the Atlantic coast. The highway was expected to remain closed to traffic throughout the morning in a section about 10 kilometers west of the capital.

The minister also reported about “a hundred” accidents “no seriousness” that occurred during the night and added that the problems are concentrated “on the roads”.

The cold was worsening today in north-east France and the Central Mountain Range and six departments of north-west France were put on orange alert for snow and ice for what is expected to be the coldest day of the week in the country.

Today the felt temperature is expected to range between -5°C and -10°C in about a third of the north-eastern part of the country, while there is also a risk of flooding in the north, which has already been hit by floods in recent weeks.

Yesterday, Monday, the Deputy Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriet announced the release of 120 million euros for the provision of temporary accommodation and noted that the “big cold” project “from all the prefectures” concerned, in collaboration with the French meteorological service Météo France, had started.

However, today’s situation does not meet the criteria of a “cold wave”, which is defined in France as a lasting and extended cold wave (of at least three days) including a day when the average temperature (national heat index) falls below -2 degrees Celsius. From tomorrow, Wednesday, a slow rise in temperature is expected. However, minimum temperatures will remain low.