Around 150 people found shelter in the town hall of Salles, while another 15 were brought to Noirétanle in the north west of Loire. The A89 motorway was shut in both directions near Thiers due to heavy snowfall at 6pm on Sunday.
Emergency service teams helped guide some of the vehicles off the motorway, many of which did not have snow chains. The situation quickly worsened, and at some point close to 600 vehicles got stuck on the road. Regional officials have underlined that no person was forced to spend the night in their vehicle.
The motorway reopened around 6am on Monday. By that time, most vehicles had been freed from the snow.
