A summer weather. This Wednesday, the south-west of France recorded several heat records, with temperatures 10 to 12 degrees higher than normal for the season in places, announced Météo-France.
In the afternoon, the 30 degree mark was even crossed in Dax, in the Landes, and Orthez, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, with 30.1 degrees. Dax’s previous record dated from March 21, 1990, with 29.9 degrees, that of Orthez from March 31, 2021 with 29 ° C.
“This is the first time that we have reached this threshold in metropolitan France this year,” Patrick Gallois told AFP. A threshold of 30 degrees rarely crossed in metropolitan France in March. It had previously been exceeded twice: in Pau on March 25, 1955 with a record of 31°C and in Figari, in Corsica, on March 24, 2001 with 30.3°C.
Other cities also broke their monthly records, such as Mont-de-Marsan in the Landes (29.9°C), Clarac in Haute-Garonne (27.5) Villefranche-de-Rouergue in Aveyron (26, 2) or even Belves in the Dordogne (26.6).
From the early hours of the day, Biarritz recorded its mildest night, with an average of 18.9 degrees, beating its monthly record set on March 4, 1998, when the thermometer had reached 18.2 ° C.
Return Season Normals Friday
In the rest of the country, temperatures were locally 6 to 8 degrees higher than normal for the season in several places, such as Clermont-Ferrand with 25 degrees or Paris with 21 degrees, or 10 more than Tuesday.
A mildness due to an Atlantic depression which, slowed down by an anticyclone in place over France, brought up a mass of very mild air over the country, in southern currents. It is also fed by a foehn effect at the foot of the western Pyrenees.
But it won’t last. “Temperatures will start to drop sharply, returning to seasonal averages on Friday, and this weekend we will even drop below normal for the start of April,” said Patrick Gallois.