Storm Darragh, which blew across the western coast of France on Saturday, severely disrupted train traffic, with many lines having been suspended as a precaution in the affected regions, according to SNCF.
Nine departments in the north-western quarter of France, from Morbihan to Pas-de-Calais, were placed on orange alert for the wind on Saturday morning by Météo France, as well as Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales. In its bulletin updated at 4:00 p.m., the organization however downgraded Morbihan, Seine-Maritime, Somme and Pas-de-Calais to yellow vigilance. A total of seven departments remained on orange alert (Finistère, Côtes d’Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine, Manche, Calvados, Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales).
The strong gusts of wind already measured on Saturday in Brittany (148 km/h on the island of Groix in Morbihan) and in Normandy (117 km/h in Gonneville in the Manche) were also expected to be felt as far as Île-de-France. -France in the afternoon, forcing the organizers of the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame de Paris to review their plans and retreat inside the cathedral.
Deletions and disruptions also reported in the Pays-de-la-Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions
As of Friday evening, the Normandy region had warned that there would be “no rail traffic” on its territory on Saturday and Sunday due to the violent winds from storm Darragh. “In order to guarantee the safety of travelers and staff, SNCF Réseau has decided to completely suspend rail traffic,” announced the Nomad network on its X account.
⛔️ NO TRAIN TRAFFIC⛔️
🗓️From Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 8
🌬️Storm Darragh is underway with significant gales.
Strong gusts of wind were measured this morning by @meteoFrance in @RegionNormandie with peaks of up to 130km/h on the coasts,… https://t.co/Gn9hjTeiWL— SNCF NOMAD TRAIN (@train_nomad) December 7, 2024
In Brittany too, a “total interruption” of traffic has been decided on certain lines (from Rennes to the Breton coast in particular) between Saturday 5 a.m. and Sunday 12 p.m., according to the SNCF. TGVs were also canceled and others suffered significant delays on Saturday at Rennes station.
Similar cancellations and disruptions were reported in the Pays-de-la-Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions, which were not affected by an orange alert for violent winds. In Hauts-de-France, train traffic was completely interrupted on several TER lines such as Amiens-Compiègne, Amiens-Boulogne and Paris-Laon.
After the wind, the snow
The storm, with gusts measured at 125 km/h in Boulogne-sur-Mer by Météo France, also disrupted ferry traffic in the Channel, causing delays, and caused some damage to the electricity network. According to Enedis, 2,300 of its customers were deprived of electricity at the height of the episode in the department and 1,500 were still deprived of electricity in the middle of the afternoon.
Darragh also blew violently across the Channel, with many trains and flights cancelled, as well as power cuts to tens of thousands of homes in the UK.
After the passage of the depression, Météo-France predicts “heavy snowfall from the mid-mountains” in the Pyrenees. The organization has placed the departments of Ariège, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne on orange alert for snow and ice from 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.