On Tuesday 16 January, the Luxembourg government's Crisis Unit upgraded the Yellow weather alert issued earlier in the day by MeteoLux to a Red weather alert.
The Crisis Unit met on Tuesday evening following a subsequent MeteoLux forecast of snowfall of up to 15 to 20 cm locally during Wednesday 17 January in the north of the Grand Duchy, and 5 to 10 cm in the south, as well as a significant risk of freezing rain across the entire country.
Precipitation is likely to be in the form of freezing rain from 06:00 until late afternoon on Wednesday; the Crisis Unit stressed that there is still uncertainty regarding the quantities of forecast precipitation.
Taking into account the current weather forecasts, a transition to the red alert threshold was triggered for the beginning of Wednesday morning. As a result, a “bad weather” crisis unit met this evening under the chairmanship of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Léon Gloden, with a view to analysing the situation, preparing and coordinating actions for the next few hours.
For prevention and anticipation purposes, the government decided to alert residents via different channels, in particular through the launch of a GouvAlert alert and by SMS.
Red alert: warning of heavy snow or ice; possible consequences:
- Very heavy snowfall or ice that could seriously affect economic life and human activities;
- Roads quickly become impassable across the entire network;
- Risk of very significant disruptions to air and rail transport.
- Risk of local damage to electricity distribution networks.
Advice from 06:00 Wednesday morning:
- If possible, stay at home;
- Only undertake absolutely essential trips;
- Listen to your local radio stations if you need to travel;
- Report your departure and your destination to your loved ones;
- Provide minimum equipment in case of waiting on the road in your vehicle (chains; shovel; blankets, provisions, etc.);
- Strictly respect diversions and traffic instructions;
- Protect yourself from falls;
- Clear the snow and salt the footpaths in front of your home and avoid blocking water drains;
- Facilitate the passage of road and motorway clearance vehicles, as well as emergency service vehicles, especially by parking your vehicle outside the traffic lanes.
Residents are asked to closely monitor developments in the situation from official sources, www.meteolux.lu, www.infocrise.lu, @infocriseLU, @CGDISlux, as well as the national media.
Exemption from class attendance in schools
Following the decision of the crisis unit, the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth exempts students from attending classes in public primary schools and secondary schools, as well as in specialised educational psychology skills centres, for the day of Wednesday 17 January 2024.
Primary schools, secondary schools and skills centres will remain open to welcome students who go there. A reception service is provided during class time.
Education and reception structures (crèches, relay houses, school hostels, etc.) provide reception during normal reception hours.
All school buses, including Mobibus and Adapto, will NOT run.
Private schools, including St George's (which will be operating home schooling) and the ISL, will also remain closed on Wednesday. The university of Luxembourg has also announced that in-person exams scheduled for 17 January have been cancelled.
Note: traffic to France is prohibited for trucks > 7.5t from midnight.
The crisis unit will meet again on Wednesday morning at 06:00.
No post on Wednesday
POST Luxembourg confirmed very late on Tuesday evening that it was suspending delivery of post and newspapers on Wednesday.
