VIDEO – “The car was driving by itself”: the story of motorists trapped by snow in the Pyrenees

Several hundred motorists were stuck overnight from Sunday to Monday on the roads of the Pyrenees, especially in the Andorra sector. In a few hours, up to a meter of snow fell. After several hours of hard work, the snow removers managed to secure the area around 10:30 a.m. on Monday. Traffic was then able to resume normally, to the great relief of some.

“It was at a complete stop. We were advancing 100 meters every half hour / three quarters of an hour”, testifies a mother who took nearly four hours to descend into the valley. “We took our troubles patiently. In times like these, it’s no use getting upset and overtaking everyone”, abounds her spouse at the microphone of TF1. “I’m a little more confident. We’ll be able to continue the holidays, that’s good”, rejoices, for his part, a tourist.

The blockages were notably caused by vehicles crossing the road. “The car was driving by itself. We didn’t really know where to go. We were a little lucky”, says a driver. In addition, despite the obligation in force, many vehicles were not equipped with chains or snow tires. A situation that makes the mayor of L’Hospitalet-prés-l’Andorre (Ariège) say that more controls are needed. “People can buy in our shops. And if they don’t want to buy, turn around”, declares Arnaud Diaz.

Anyway, the situation finally returned to normal. Beware, however, of the snow which, in recent hours, has turned into rain. This new precipitation accelerates the melting of snow at higher altitudes, raising the level of rivers in the plains. As a direct consequence, Ariège was temporarily classified as red alert by Météo France, before being downgraded to orange alert. In the region, Pyrénées-Atlantique and Landes remain at the maximum alert threshold.