France weather

[Spikecollie]

Having a lawn mowing day today, but spending a lot of time consuming orange juice! 30c, but the strong breeze is making it gorgeous. I love my heat so I'm in my element. Not a cloud in the sky...

[StormChaseUK]

Here in St Malo, it was a pleasant day 22C but the wind was very cool.

[Blessed Weather]

Report from Meteo France today on the heat in France this last couple of days:

 

In front of a large depression (called Lothar), a very warm air mass invaded France on 4 and 5 June Many records for early June were beaten Thursday 4th in the Southwest, and Friday 5 Central to the Belgian border. It was thus raised to 36.1 ° C in Capbreton (Landes) and 35.1 ° C in Bordeaux Thursday, 4, of values never reached before mid-June. Friday 5, the thermometer reached 34.8 ° C in Nemours (Seine-et-Marne) and 34.2 ° C in Nevers.

 

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/25771808-retour-sur-le-pic-de-chaleur-des-4-et-5-juin

 

[Spikecollie]

Yes, saw Lothar mentioned! It's been a beautiful day here in Limousin we have a known storm shield, but when we get the storms we get the full show. A slow start with  a misty overcast morning. The sun appeared just as I was doing my déchetterie run at 1400 and on the way back after a supermarket visit I had to park in the shade to have a stroll in Bessines sur Gartempe. Sat in my neighbour's garden for an hour or two for a couple of beers after I got back. Blissful and a lot less humid and hot than last night. I love my home here...

Edited June 6, 2015 by Spikecollie

[Spikecollie]

BTW just look at Blitzortung. Chambery and the likes must be having supercells,

[Blessed Weather]

Some interesting data published today by Meteo France about where the most and least thunderstorms occur in France.

(The most) is in Ajaccio, on the Island of Beauty, as thunderstorms are the most numerous with an average of 39 days a year. Then comes Biarritz, in Pyrénées-Atlantiques (34.4 days per year) and Bastia in Corsica (33.6 days per year) and Basel-Mulhouse in Haut-Rhin (33.4 days per year).

The least affected areas are in Brittany. Indeed, in the Finistère Lanvéoc has only 7 days, the Pointe du Raz 8.6 days, Penmarc'h Pointe Lorient 10.3 days and 10.4 days stormy year.

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/7845982-ou-les-orages-frappent-ils-le-plus-en-france

[Spikecollie]

It has finally stopped raining here in Limousin - someone's cockerel down the road thinks it's morning after the low light levels and is "doodle dooing" like mad at 1620 in the afternoon! Intermittent thunderstorms since Wednesday of last week, but worse since Friday, gutters well washed out! Need to get out into the garden and collect the fruit (cherries, raspberries, gooseberries) before the birds get them (hasn't been good for the poor birds, so they're welcome to anything I can't reach). The air is full of swallows.

 

EDIT: Spoke too soon, another batch of rain heading in over the hills from the north/northwest! 10 minutes later, it's torrential again!

Edited June 15, 2015 by Spikecollie

[Blessed Weather]

The first half of June has delivered quite a contrast between the amount of rainfall in the north of France compared with the south. Some extracts below from a Meteo France report published on 18th June. More detail and charts on the link.

 

A wet June in the south, dry north

Under the influence of high pressure over the Atlantic and the British Isles, the regions north of the Loire experienced a very dry early June month. In ÃŽle-de-France, it is, in places, not a single drop fell from the beginning of the month.
The presence of a minimum low pressure between Spain and the Mediterranean, on the contrary, favored for ten days of heavy rain storm on the south, including the Mediterranean basin, which is unusual at this time of the year.

Between 1st and 18th June at 8am local, it has already fallen to 137 mm Cap Bear. This exceptionally high amount represents approximately 4.5 times the normal of June (31 mm), a usually dry months in the Mediterranean. While the month is far from over, in June 2015 is already the second month of the wettest June since the opening of the station in 1901 (record held to date in June 1992 with 173 mm).
 

In Montpellier, it fell 87 mm or 3 times the normal one month of June all over, 79 mm on June 12 in a violent storm ..

Conversely, it has been particularly dry over the same period in the north of the Loire, with for example: 0 mm in Roissy, 1 mm to Paris and Orly, 5 mm in Quimper, 6 mm and 10 mm in Dunkirk to Brest . In the capital, we must go back to 1925 to find the first two decades as dry June.

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/26155393-un-mois-de-juin-jusqu-ici-arrose-dans-le-sud-sec-au-nord

[Nouska]

Popping these two extreme forecast charts in here and will revisit on the days in question to see what the actuality turns out to be.

 

  

[Harve]

Popping these two extreme forecast charts in here and will revisit on the days in question to see what the actuality turns out to be.

 

  

That looks disgusting.

 

On the other hand the max temperature today has been 12c. I'm in the wrong thread I realise, but 60km away from the French border must be close enough?

[Blessed Weather]

Meteo France have today published some info on "summer extremes" in France. From the graph it certainly appears that summers have trended to warmer since circa 1990. Extract:

 

Focus on extreme summers

The meteorological summer, which begins June 1 and ends in late August is the hottest time of year in the northern hemisphere. On average, in France, the normal temperature of the season is 19.9 ° C.

A brief overview summers temperature related records:

Since 1900, this is the summer of 2003 was undoubtedly the hottest, with an average temperature of 23.1 ° C, 3.2 degrees above normal. The summer of 1956 proved to be the coldest with an average temperature of 17.3 ° C, 2.6 degrees below normal.

The two hottest summers (2003, 2006) occurred in the twenty-2003 is by far the most exceptional (2 degrees above 2006 ...)

 

 

 

(Chart above) Deviation from the seasonal average of the 1981-2010 baseline average temperature gauge in summer in France * © Météo-France

 

 

Report with further info on precipitation: http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/26130688-focus-sur-les-etes-extremes

[95 Degrees]

Scary temperatures being forecasted for SW France on tuesday, especially in the Landes department and the area around Bordeaux, could potentailly break June records 

 

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day/Bordeaux+33+France+FRXX0016:1:FR

 

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day/Dax+40+France+FRXX0149:1:FR

[Blessed Weather]

Scary temperatures being forecasted for SW France on tuesday, especially in the Landes department and the area around Bordeaux, could potentailly break June records 

 

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day/Bordeaux+33+France+FRXX0016:1:FR

 

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day/Dax+40+France+FRXX0149:1:FR

 

Meteo France have published this report today regarding the upcoming heat wave (translated using Google):

 

First week of July heatwave

As of Tuesday, June 30, a scorching heat wave will begin on the country.

The first heat wave will touch the Southwest. On the regions of Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Limousin, in particular, the minimum and maximum temperatures will be remarkably high, sometimes close record for a June or July. In these regions, the maximum temperatures should indeed be between 36 and 40 ° C. The night the temperature will not drop below the 20 ° C. On Center and the Île-de-France, Tuesday 30 afternoon, temperatures will be around 35 ° C.

This heat episode should extend from Wednesday July 1 to the north and east of the country. Maximum temperatures should often exceed 35 ° C with peaks of probable at 40 ° C, including Rhone-Alpes region. Night temperatures should be between 19 and 23 ° C. Such levels are also exceptional for those regions.

Thursday 2, a stormy episode in the northwest should be temporarily lower temperatures over the western half of the country. But on Friday 3 on for a new breath of hot air from Spain, they should go up to very high values, which are expected to persist throughout the weekend.

This heat wave is characterized by its earliness and intensity. The major heat waves that hit France in the past generally occurred later in the summer.

 France has not experienced a heat wave with temperatures as high since July 2006.

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/26449156-premiere-semaine-de-juillet-caniculaire

[Summer Sun]

Cazaux, in southwest France, has now hit 40C, 104F

[Nouska]

The map of maximum temperatures for yesterday.

 

GFS was a bit bullish in the forecast chart posted earlier; as time ticked down, a more realistic forecast matched the reality very well.

 

[Blessed Weather]

Extracts from today's report from Meteo France on the current heat wave impacting France. Interestingly, it's Northern France where most records seem to be falling:

 

Heat Wave: record temperatures

The scorching heat wave that started on Tuesday, June 30 France continues.

Wednesday 1st July temperatures were again very high in many areas. The maximum reached exceptional levels even in northern France.... In many cities, had never measured these temperatures:
- Boulogne-sur-Mer (station opened in 1947): 35.4 ° C (34.8 ° C beating of 11/08/2003)
- Dieppe (station opened in 1949): 38.3 ° C (37 ° C beating of 19/07/2006)
- Melun (station opened in 1947): 39.4 ° C (38.9 ° C beating of 12/08/2003)
 

In Paris, Montsouris reference station, the thermometer reached 39.7 ° C, exceeding the maximum value in August 2003. It is the second highest value recorded in the capital after July 1947.
 

Last night (overnight) Météo-France has identified still significantly higher values ​​at 20 ° C in the departments placed in orange alert (22 ° C in the capital and in Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon 23 ° C).
 

In the Northwest departments, thunderstorms have helped to significantly lower temperatures.

Thursday, north of a line Pau - Paris - Lille, heat will subside. From north of Midi-Pyrénées to the Belgian border and the eastern regions, the high heat will persist, with temperatures in the afternoon can exceed those of yesterday in Lorraine, Alsace and Rhone Alps.
 

Friday, July 3, the heat will be very pronounced again in North and South with a new rise in temperatures. The regions of the East, from Alsace to Burgundy and Lyonnais, should experience heat peaks, with adjacent temperature peaks even sometimes exceeding 40 ° C.

This heatwave looks sustainable on the facade of the country, at least until the middle of next week.

 

 

Chart: Deviation from the 1981-2010 normal daily maximum temperature in degrees on Wednesday, 1 July 2015 (Red: values greater than the average of daily temperatures, blue: those below this average). © Météo-France

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/26520660-vague-de-chaleur-des-temperatures-record

 

 

[Harve]

Brussels had a minimum temperature of 26.5c last night. 

[Hairy Celt]

I drove down from Belgium to the southern Alps on Friday last week and the car thermo hit 40C as we passed Dijon; I won the family sweepstake. (Thank you aircon; I remember doing this run in my Dad's Mk1 Golf in the early 70s and sticking painfully to the seats as well as feeling like a small fried sausage...)  Been up the hills every day since - warm in the valleys at 8, the heat follows us uphill, then we descend into the oven mid afternoon. There was a vague forecast of thunder this afternoon and we heard a couple of rumbles from the east and a few spots of rain early evening but nothing to waste a postcard on...

[Blessed Weather]

More heat coming up for France. Weather bulletin issued 15th July:

 

New episode of extreme heat - From midweek, a new episode of strong heat will affect many regions in France.

 

Wednesday 15, morning temperatures are still fairly fresh; in the afternoon, on the South-West, Midi-Mediterranean and to a lesser extent Central East, the maximum temperatures will often display 36 degrees.

 

Thursday 16, the heat will increase substantially while spreading to the north and northeast. Temperatures could then reach peaks of around 38 to 39 degrees in Auvergne, in the Rhone Valley, Burgundy and in the Centre. 36 degrees are expected in the capital. Night temperatures will be difficult to reduce below 20 degrees - in the cities warmer.

 

Friday 17, the high levels of heat shift to the Lorraine, Alsace, Franche-Comté and part of the Dauphiné.

 

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19, temperatures are expected to show significant decline in most regions, thus ending temporary episode in this hot weather.
 

Edited July 15, 2015 by Blessed Weather

[Hairy Celt]

Daytime max south of Genoble was tolerable today at 31C at our little (far too temporary) retreat at 1100m, but this evening it's not falling anywhere near as quickly as previous - just now (23:30) it's still 24C. Gawd knows what it's like in the low cities.  Tomorrow forecast for hotter then a moderation.

[Spikecollie]

We're heading over to Limousin on Sunday for five weeks, with me probably staying on afterwards, so I'll be sending regular weather updates. Meteo France are progging a risk on t-storms from Tuesday onward so there could be some interesting times ahead and some nice temperatures too...

[Blessed Weather]

Meteo-France have today published their analysis of July 2015:

 

In France, in July 2015 was particularly hot and is 3rd among the hottest July's since 1900. Other European regions have also experienced an exceptional month - in some regions it was even the hottest month - across all months - since records began. This is the case in parts of Spain, but also for the Alps, whether French side, Swiss Italian or Austrian, or locally on the Dalmatian coast. It has been the persistence of extreme heat, more than the intensity maxima achieved, which has established such records.

 

850hPa temperature anomaly for July 2015 versus the 1981-2010 average (courtesy of Meteo-France):

 

 

http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/27520316-un-mois-de-juillet-record-dans-certaines-regions-europeennes

[Flash bang flash bang etc]

We'll be in France next week and cripes don't those temperatures look hot?! Will be down near Toulon so hoping for some beautiful sunshine and a couple of whopping storms!

Models are looking promising from where I am, but as ever I hope we don't get the mother-of-all-hometowns while I'm out of the country...

[Woollymummy]

Fingers crossed for you Flash Bang, if we are stuck here in the land of no storms, at least this is a nice time to keep in touch with the lucky ones who are traveling off to somewhere with storm potential.

[Spikecollie]

We'll be in France next week and cripes don't those temperatures look hot?! Will be down near Toulon so hoping for some beautiful sunshine and a couple of whopping storms!

Models are looking promising from where I am, but as ever I hope we don't get the mother-of-all-hometowns while I'm out of the country...

You'll be nice and toasty down there, and there's good storm potential too - we've already had our first on the way up while camping! Currently 29c here in my back garden in Limousin. Baking nicely while strimming and trimming...