Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

According to reports, an area close to the French city of Lyon has been evacuated after police detected a car with 14 gas bottles. Police have cordoned off the area of Chasse-sur-Rhône after they and special bomb squad was sent to investigate a Peugeot 406. Local media report a driver has been arrested.

It has been three years since I've been a part of the Ski Club International des Journalistes (SCIJ). This year's meeting is in France, at Val Cenis, a ski resort close to the Italian border. As we depart from Torino Airport, I have a feeling that it will be more like a spring meeting, as the trees along the way are already blossoming.

Heavy snowfall brought both chaos and joy across Europe overnight Dec. 28, with some 15,000 people stranded overnight in the French Alps while skiers revelled in the fresh powder blanketing slopes.
      
A winter storm left thousands of Britons without power, sent trucks sliding across icy highways in Germany and caused airport delays and traffic disruptions across the region.