UN-FORECAST BAD WX; MINIMUM FUEL AND FLAP ANOMALY CHALLENGE A319 FLT CREW.

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DEPARTED ZZZ1 FOR ZZZ WITH VFR WX RPTED AND FORECAST FOR ZZZ. NO ALTERNATE REQUIRED AND FUEL PLANNED AT DEST WAS 6400 LBS. PRIOR TO DESCENT ATIS STILL INDICATED VFR; HOWEVER; DISPATCH SENT AN ACARS TO ALL INBOUND FLTS ADVISING OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATING WX CONDITIONS. WX WENT BELOW CAT I MINIMUMS SO WE PLANNED AND BRIEFED A CAT III APCH. I SENT DISPATCH A MESSAGE INDICATING THAT I WOULD PLAN ZZZ2 AS MY VFR ALTERNATE. ONCE CLRED FOR THE APCH BY ZZZ APCH CTL; I BEGAN TO CONFIGURE THE ACFT. WHEN WE SELECTED FLAPS 1 WE RECEIVED AN ECAM: FLT CTL FLAP/SLAT FAULT AND THE FLAPS AND SLATS REMAINED UP. WE FOLLOWED THE ECAM PROC AND TRIED TO RESET THE FLAP HANDLE SEVERAL TIMES TO NO AVAIL. WE THEN DISCONTINUED THE APCH AND BEGAN PREPARATIONS TO PROCEED TO ZZZ3 SINCE IT WAS VFR FOR A FLAP 0 LNDG. I CONTACTED MAINT CTL AND DISPATCH DURING THIS PROCESS. WHILE RUNNING THE CHECKLISTS FOR OUR SITUATION I DECIDED TO TRY THE FLAP PROC ONE LAST TIME AND IT FINALLY WORKED. I MADE THE DECISION TO PROCEED TO THE CLOSEST ARPT WHICH WAS ZZZ (APPROX 30 MILES AWAY) AND CONDUCT A NORMAL CAT III APCH. THE APCH WAS NORMAL AND A SAFE AUTOLAND WAS ACCOMPLISHED. WE LANDED WITH 3000 LBS FUEL REMAINING AND BLOCKED IN WITH 2800 LBS OF FUEL. I BELIEVE WE SUCCESSFULLY AVERTED A WHOLE HOST OF THREATS IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME AND BROUGHT THE SITUATION TO A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION. BOY; IF WE COULD ONLY PREDICT THE WX WE COULD HAVE TANKERED A LOT MORE GAS; BUT THIS NIGHT WAS A TRUE ANOMALY IN TERMS OF WX. THE FLAPS 0 CHKLIST AND PROC IS PAINFULLY LABORIOUS AND DOESN'T FLOW AT ALL; HOWEVER; I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS A WAY TO FIX THAT. MAINT CTL IS NOT ALLOWED TO OFFER SUGGESTIONS BECAUSE THE FAA SEES THAT AS 'TROUBLESHOOTING' WHICH I THINK IS A BIG MISTAKE ON THE FAA'S PART. IT TAKES OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE OUT OF THE GAME.