France sees 937 km traffic jams on hottest July weekend as holiday departures collide with extreme heat

France's summer getaway weekend brought record-level congestion on Saturday 11 July, as millions took to the roads for the long Bastille Day weekend under an exceptional heatwave. By midday, the national traffic information service Bison Futé recorded over 900 km of cumulative jams, peaking at 937 km at 11:55, before easing to 675 km an hour later.

Traffic jam clock

On Saturday morning, congestion built rapidly. At 10:05, 422.5 km of tailbacks were already registered, with Bison Futé classifying departures as black in the West, the North and the Centre-East, and red (very difficult) across the rest of the country. By 11:15 the figure had almost doubled to 794 km. The peak came just before noon, then fell sharply to 675 km by early afternoon, indicating some relief for motorists.

Rhône Valley under pressure

The A7, the main artery serving the Rhône Valley, bore the brunt of the chaos. At 10:05 it already had nearly 100 km of stationary traffic, rising to roughly 150 km at 11:15. At the national peak, it still carried close to 130 km of jams alone, according to Bison Futé. The motorway, which links Lyon to Marseille, is a perennial bottleneck during summer departures, but the heatwave added an extra layer of risk.

Northwest Normandy gridlock

Normandy also experienced severe disruption. On the A13, jams stretched for 11.1 km near Dozulé, and the Caen ring road saw a 5.9 km slowdown from Fleury-sur-Orne to Bretteville-sur-Odon. Around Rouen, the peak reached 8.9 km at 10:25, with additional tailbacks of 9.1 km between Rougemontiers and Bourneville in the Eure department. Bison Futé had already warned motorists to avoid the A13 from Paris towards Rouen and Caen between 10 am and 2 pm.

Heatwave intensifies risk

Météo France placed 24 departments on red heat alert and another 59 on orange alert. Bison Futé explicitly tied its safety plea to the "contexte d'épisode caniculaire d'intensité exceptionnelle" (context of an exceptionally intense heatwave). The agency urged drivers to avoid the hottest hours between noon and 4 pm, to watch over vulnerable passengers (children, the elderly), and never to leave anyone inside a stationary vehicle.

Redoublez de prudence et adoptez les bons gestes.

Éviter de circuler aux heures les plus chaudes de la journée, entre 12 h et 16 h.

Outlook for Sunday

Bison Futé forecasts a return to habitual traffic conditions nationwide on Sunday 12 July, with no further black or red classifications expected for either departures or returns. The heatwave, however, is forecast to persist, keeping safety warnings in place.