# Snow and ice storm in northern France leaves two dead and 20 injured
A cold snap that brought snow and ice across northern Europe has left two people dead and 20 others injured in northern France, according to local authorities.
The deaths were reported by officials in the Nord region, which said rescue services had been called out repeatedly on 2025-01-09 to handle traffic accidents, people falling on icy ground, flooding, and other emergencies. One of the two people who died slipped on a pavement and hit their head violently, while the other was found dead in the town of Valenciennes. Authorities did not immediately give further details about either victim.
The weather system struck on Wednesday, and the effects were still being felt on Thursday as snow and ice created hazardous conditions well beyond France. Across the Channel, the United Kingdom was also under weather warnings, with forecasters warning that temperatures could drop as low as -16 degrees Celsius in some places later in the day. Manchester Airport briefly closed its runways because of heavy snow before reopening, a sign of how quickly the storm was disrupting transport networks.
The Met Office warned of further travel disruption on road and rail services, along with a risk of accidents in icy areas. Snow and ice warnings were in place for northern Scotland and Northern Ireland, while days of snow, sleet, and downpours were already causing delays and cancellations across Britain during the busy holiday period.
The northern France deaths fit into a wider winter pattern that had spread across the region, with cities and transport routes contending with conditions that can quickly turn routine movement into a safety risk. The Nord authorities’ account suggests many of the injuries were linked not only to transport incidents but also to the simple act of walking on ice and snow.
While the report from Nord did not identify the injured people, the scale of the response indicates how widely the cold snap affected daily life. Emergency crews were forced into repeated deployments as roads, pavements, and drainage systems came under pressure from the weather.
The storm’s reach underscored how a single cold-air surge can quickly move across national borders and produce different but connected disruptions. In northern France, that meant fatalities and injuries. In the U.K., it meant travel warnings, airport delays, and the prospect of more problems as temperatures fell further.
