The strike has triggered warnings from several airlines and ferry firms, as well as Eurostar, with the impact likely to spill over into Wednesday (8 March).
Updated Foreign Office advice reads: "Several unions have called for rolling cross-sector strike action and demonstrations across France from Tuesday 7 March.
"Industrial action may start the evening before the strike day and run for several days. Localised or sector-specific strikes could also occur outside these dates.
"Industrial action may lead to disruption to services. Please check the latest advice with operators before travelling, avoid demonstrations and follow the advice of local authorities."
Eurostar
Eurostar will run a revised timetable on Tuesday and Wednesday; eight London to Paris services have been axed on Tuesday, along with eight going the other way. A further six due to operate to Paris on Wednesday have been pre-emptively cancelled, and four returns.
Four Tuesday services from London to Belgium and onwards to the Netherlands have also been cancelled, and their respective returns.
"There will be a general strike in France on 7 March, which could extend beyond this date," said Eurostar. "It will involve disruption across multiple sectors, including national rail services and it will have an impact on the availability of some of our crew.
"In addition, we’ve now been informed of reduced opening hours on the high-speed line we use in Northern France on 7 March. This means we’ve had to cancel additional trains and we’ll be running a revised timetable on 7 and 8 March."
Eurostar added that while it wasn’t anticipating any further cancellations on Tuesday, it could not rule out additional services being affected on Wednesday.
A national strike in Belgium on Friday (10 March) could also impact operations, said Eurostar.
Ferries
P&O Ferries tweeted: "Due to national action in France on 7 March, we anticipate disruption to our services. Please keep and eye on our sailings update page for the latest information available."
Brittany Ferries, meanwhile, has cancelled three outbound services departing on Tuesday – the 8.15am Portsmouth-Caen service onboard Mont St Michel, its 3.15pm Portsmouth-Caen service onboard Normandie and its 11.30pm Portsmouth-Le Havre service onboard Cotentin.
Airlines
Several airlines have also warned of the potential for disruption to travel to and from France, and services using French airspace.
EasyJet
"We have been advised of a national strike in France starting 7pm local time on Monday 6 March to 7am Friday 10 March. Air traffic control staff are joining the strike action and therefore like all airlines, our flights to and from French airports, as well as those flying in French airspace, could be affected.
"We expect that there will be delays and some disruption due to the industrial action, therefore we advise all customers to check the status of their flight on our flight tracker either on our mobile app or website.
"Please also be aware public transport services may be affected by the strike. We recommend all customers allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport and consider alternative transport options where possible."
Jet2.com
"We wanted to let you know industrial strike action is taking place from 5pm GMT on Monday 6 March until 5am GMT on Friday 10 March 2023, supported by the air traffic service in France. This means that flights operating to or through French airspace may be delayed.
"If you’re affected, rest assured we’ll try to keep any disruption to a minimum. Please arrive at the airport at least two hours before your departure time. Check-in closes 40 minutes before a flight’s scheduled departure time."
Ryanair
"Due to the French ATC strike from Tuesday 7 March to Wednesday 8 March, passengers flying to/from/over France may face delays/cancellations. Affected customers will be notified and advised of their options.
’We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused as a result of this French ATC strike which is entirely beyond our control."
