Road Safety

Winter tires, chains: what are your obligations from November 1st?

Publié le 29 octobre 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

In order to improve traffic flow on the roads and the safety of users, it is mandatory to equip your vehicle with winter tires or to hold snow chains or socks, from 1er November 2025 to March 31, 2026, in certain mountainous areas. This winter obligation has been in effect since 2021. Which vehicles, equipment and departments are concerned during the “winter period” 2025-2026?

Which vehicles are affected?

All vehicles with 4 or more wheels are covered by this obligation: light vehicles, commercial vehicles, motorhomes, coaches, buses and heavy goods vehicles.

Which areas are affected?

The prefects of 34 departments located in mountainous massifs (Alps, Massif central, Jura, Pyrenees, Vosges) must establish the list of municipalities in which vehicle equipment becomes mandatory in the “winter period”, i.e. from 1er November to March 31. This list shall be drawn up with and after consultation with the local elected representatives concerned.

You can consult the prefectural decrees applied in the various departments concerned, on the website of the Delegation for Road Safety.

You can also consult the list of municipalities within which this obligation of winter equipment is applied.

Which signs to indicate the areas of obligation of equipment?

Road signs indicate to road users the entrances and exits of mountainous areas where the obligation of winter equipment applies. A sign specifies the winter period, to remind users that these obligations apply only from 1er November to March 31. Signaling is necessary for the measure to be enforceable.

Illustration
Illustration
Crédits : Ministry of the Interior

Signs indicating the beginning and end of an area where the equipment requirement applies.

What are the mandatory equipment?

Between 1er november 2025 and march 31, 2026, light vehicles, vans and motorhomes must, in the areas established by the prefects of departments:

  • or hold removable anti-skid devices to equip “at least 2-wheel drive” (metal snow chains recommended for frequent use of your vehicle in these areas, textile snow socks for occasional use);
  • be equipped with 4 tires suitable for winter driving (winter tires).

This obligation does not apply to vehicles equipped with studded tires.

Warning  

You must check that the removable devices are adapted to the size of your wheelsand the space between the wheel and the bodywork.

Coaches, buses and heavy goods vehicles without trailers and semi-trailers are also subject to these obligations with the choice between winter tires or chains (or other equivalent removable anti-skid devices).

Heavy goods vehicles with trailers or semi-trailers must have removable anti-skid devices for at least 2-wheel drive, even if they are fitted with winter tires.

Please note

Since last winter, only 3PMSF tires are allowed in equivalence to removable anti-slip devices (3PMSF is the acronym for “Three peak mountain snow flake” which means “Mountain with three peaks with a snowflake”). The purchase and use of other types of snow tires is still possible, but in this case users must also have removable anti-skid devices. The 3PMSF marking is the only guarantee of winter performance in all conditions because it is based on a standardized European test of tire traction performance on snow or ice.

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