Wintry weather disrupts travel in Paris region

Heavy snow paralyzed travel in the Paris region Wednesday, where officials suspended air traffic at one of Europe’s busiest airports, closed several highways and shut down the Eiffel Tower. Officials at the Charles de Gaulle airport suspended air traffic until at least 6 p.m., and delays at the Orly airport were up to at least two hours, according to Aeroports de Paris, the region’s airport authority.

Météo France has issued an ‘orange’ weather warning across central France, the second-highest level of warning. As much as 10-15 centimeters of snow has fallen in some areas, and forecasters are predicting 2 to 3 more centimeters will come down before Thursday.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux called on people to limit their travel as much as possible. “As we wait for the situation to improve... I urge extreme caution”, he told reporters. “Pedestrians, especially, be careful, because the sidewalks are also very slippery”.

Hortefeux said 2,000 police and 240 civil protection agents have been dispatched to the Paris region to help stranded motorists.

Truck traffic was forbidden on several highways around Paris and those leading into the capital due to ice on the roadways and the heavy snowfall, officials said. Many access points into the capital were shut down by authorities, stranding commuters on those roadways. Some disruptions were also reported on the region’s railways, with the high-speed TGV trains limited to a speed of 230 kph instead of the usual speeds of up to 320 kph. That will cause delays in arrival times, the rail authority SNCF said. The bus network in Paris was completely stopped, the group responsible for Parisian transport (RATP) reported on its website.

Authorities shut down the Eiffel Tower in Paris to tourists because of the weather. Journalist Celine Martelet of radio station RMC told CNN affiliate BFM-TV she has been blocked on a highway near Paris for three hours.

“There’s an incredible silence, not one noise”, she said. “People are leaving their cars and trying to go on foot. I saw one man on skis, who was going to find his wife who was stuck in a traffic jam two kilometers away. He was going to help her get out of her car”. Video from BFM-TV showed traffic jams on the Parisian perimeter stretching for several kilometers. Roadways were like skating rinks, drivers said. “At the worst, I will walk home”, one man said, standing beside a long line of cars. “I’ve got a little place about 5 kilometers from here. It’ll be a nice walk”.

The owner of a towing service advised stranded commuters to not even bother calling. “We can’t even get out to help you”, he said. “It’s really a catastrophe”. (BBC)

Exercise 7. Make a summary of the news issue below and translate it into Ukrainian.

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