Heavy Snow Causing Headaches in Geneva, neighbouring France

Snow storm over Pays de Gex in France6 — **The road to France from Geneva, mostly hazardous at this time. Photo taken on the way to Pays de Gex.**

GENEVA, Switzerland – Snow, strong winds and ice are back with revenge in certain parts of the Lake Geneva region, prompting the Swiss Meteorological Service , MeteoSwiss, to issue a warning to residents.

Wintry conditions are also severe, and seemingly unexpected in the Savoy, in neighbouring France where hundreds of motorists are still stranded at this hour.

Snow meltdown — Vehicle pileup in the Lake Geneva region

Most recent news reports from France say at least 15,000 vehicles are stranded, with at least one death reported.

Flights have been delayed at the Geneva International Airport. Passengers are being cautioned to take public transportation and to allow additional travel time to the airport. Passengers should show up 90 minutes before European flights instead of the 60 minutes usually recommended.

According to MeteoSwiss, 20-25 cm of snow have fallen in the Jura, 25-35cm in Valais and up to 40cm in the Alps.

Wind gusts registered in the last 24 hours have ranged between 80-108 km/h in the Jura and up to 50km/h in the valley —fortunately, much less than the 111km/h registered in Les Diablerets.

Up to 5cm of snow are expected in Geneva until Monday 29 December at noon.

Remember it is the law to drive with snow tires and have tire chains in your car if driving in snowy conditions.

Ski stations were hoping for snow, unfortunately it was too much, too soon and some ski stations had to close for business.

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