Storms, avalanches - and a record 26.1C: All in same day in France
France鈥檚 position means that its climate is influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well currents from the various mountain ranges
France regularly witnesses very varied weather events in the space of one dayRainer Fuhrmann, Trombax, Malcangi Valentina / Shutterstock
Storm Diego whipped its way across France from west to east yesterday (April 8), with winds of up to 120km/h in some places, resulting in weather service M茅t茅o-France placing five departments on orange alert for strong winds.
In eastern Savoie, a warning was put out for avalanches 鈥� which is still in place for Saturday. Meanwhile, in the southeast of the country, the city of Nice hit 26.1C, a high not recorded since 1946.
Storm Diego has now passed through France, while Savoie remains on orange alert for avalanches.
M茅t茅o-France had placed Charente-Maritime, Deux-S猫vres, Vienne, Puy-de-D么me, Haute-Loire on orange alert but these have now been downgraded.
In Savoie, M茅t茅o-France states that the potential for this level of avalanches usually occurs once per season, and that this year it is rather late.
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— VigiM茅t茅oFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance)
Down in the south-east corner of the country, several towns, including Nice, recorded very high temperatures for this time of year. In Menton, close to the Italian border, it reached 28C around 15:00. And in Antibes it reached 26.9.
馃尅锔� remarquable ce vendredi sur C么te d'Azur par effet de foehn
馃搳Records mensuels de T掳C max. battus 脿 : 鉃★笍 : 26.1掳C de T掳C max. provisoire (ancien : 26掳C le 17/04/1946) 鉃★笍 : 26.9掳C (26.8掳C le 21/04/2018) 鉃★笍 : 27.4掳C (27.2掳C le 28/04/2012)
— M茅t茅o-France Sud-Est (@MeteoFrance_SE)
The fact that the three weather events occurred in one day in one country may seem odd, but in fact it exemplifies France鈥檚 truly diverse climate.
France鈥檚 position means that its climate is influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well currents from the various mountain ranges.
Weather service M茅t茅o-Contact states that there are four types of climate in France:
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鈥淭here is the oceanic climate with a sub-category called 鈥榙egraded oceanic climate鈥�, the semi-continental climate, the Mediterranean climate and finally the mountain climate. Each of these climates has its own particular characteristics.鈥�
It means that at any time of year, there could be beautiful sunshine in one place, and snow storms in another.
The map below shows the categories of France鈥檚 different climates, according to M茅t茅o-Contact.
