Ice returns to Pic du Midi after record 108 days
Negative temperatures have returned to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre mountain in the Hautes-Pyr茅n茅es, after a record 108 days in positive figures, forecasters have said.
On Sunday this week (the night of September 30 to October 1), forecasters M茅t茅o France recorded negative temperatures at the 2,870 metre peak for the first time since June 14.
That represents a record-breaking 108 consecutive days without negative temperatures, ice or snow on the mountain. The previous record was 77 days, recorded in 1999.
Temperature records for the peak have been kept since 1882.
A : 鈥淚n the night [of Sunday], we went down to -2.4掳C, towards 5h. At that point, the temperature stabilised at -1掳C.鈥�
Dominique Vr茅court, a climatologist at M茅t茅o France, the record-breaking conditions were due to 鈥渘atural variations in climate鈥�, even though they should be taken in context of a 鈥渂ackground of a wider trend鈥� of rising global temperatures.
He said: 鈥淚t is this uninterrupted element [in the temperature readings] that is so spectacular.鈥�
Temperatures at the peak are to continue dropping, M茅t茅o France , and are expected to reach around -5掳C overnight for 鈥渢he coldest part of the week鈥�.
