Snow strands hundreds of French motorists

Hundreds of motorists were stranded overnight in northern France after heavy snowfall blocked roads, forcing some to abandon their cars and prompting others to sleep in their vehicles.

Hundreds of others spent the night in community centres and hotels near the north-eastern city of Nancy, where road crews worked through the night to clear up to 30 centimetres of snowfall, said the Regional Road Information and Co-ordination Centre in nearby Metz.

Several abandoned cars were on the A31 highway, which remains heavily congested heading north toward Luxembourg.

Officials have ordered trucks and lorries to remain parked in rest areas until normal traffic is restored.

Dozens of motorists were stranded in the Calvados region in western Normandy, where the A84 highway was closed in both directions, the National Road Information Centre said.

Trucks and lorries were temporarily banned from using this route, it added.