Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

WEATHER

Forecasters predict another long, hot and dry summer in France

The heatwave that struck France in 2019 broke temperature records all over the country, but forecasters say that the summer of 2020 will also be unusually hot and dry.

Published: 22 May 2020 15:27 CEST
Forecasters predict another long, hot and dry summer in France
Drought conditions are forecast for half the country. Photo: AFP

Weather forecaster Météo France has published its seasonal forecast and predicts that June, July and August will all be hotter and drier than normal in France.

Temperatures are already warming up and the southern French city of Montepellier recorded a temperature of 30C on Tuesday, May 19th, the first time a temperature of over 30C had been recorded so early in the year.

On Thursday temperatures of 30.1C were recorded in Niort and Angers, 30.5C in Paris and 31.8C in Béziers.

READ ALSO Eight French expressions to help you complain about the heat

 

Paris in 2019 activated its emergency heatwave plan to protect the elderly and vulnerable. Photo: AFP

The 2019 canicule (heatwave) broke France's all-time temperature record with the mercury climbing to 46C in the Hérault département, while towns all over the country broke their own local records, including Paris where a temperature of 42.6C was recorded on July 25th.

While Météo France is not predicting individual records, it says that June, July and August will all be hotter than seasonal averages.

“This has been a very regular phenomenon in recent years, a sign of global warming,” notes Michèle Blanchard, climatologist at Météo France.

There is also forecast to be a long dry spell with predictions that 58 French départements, roughly half the country, will be officially in drought conditions.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Published: 30 April 2024 08:42 CEST
Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

SHOW COMMENTS