IN NUMBERS: How hot has France's record-breaking 2022 been?
October 2022 looks set to smash a long-standing meteorological record in France; with a mild weekend to round off the month, it’s expected to become the hottest October ever recorded. That's just one statistic from a year when temperatures consistently broke records.
The mercury passed 31C in Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) on Thursday. It hit 30C in Biarritz, 29C in Bordeaux, 24C in Nantes - and even rose as high as 22C in Lille, northern France.
October’s temperature highs came hot on the heels of a record-breaking Summer and a very mild Spring.
🌡️ L'indicateur thermique national, c'est-à-dire la T°C moy. enregistrée dans 30 stations météo. réparties sur l'ensemble du territoire est "au-dessus de 17,5°C depuis le 15oct. 10j que l'on est entre 17,5 et 19°C. C'est totalement inédit".
🗣️@cberne13
📰https://t.co/NKs7Sp2BUk https://t.co/v62eNQKwpg pic.twitter.com/0oFDvXuUsT
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) October 26, 2022
Temperatures over the summer may not have smashed the all-time records set in 2019, but overall 2022 was a very warm year.
2
So far this year, with just November and December to go, only two months - January and April - saw average temperatures that climatologists in France consider ‘normal’ or ‘cool’. For the rest of the year, temperatures have been higher than expected.
75
The percentage figure of days with temperatures above seasonal norms in France in 2022. So far this year, three out of every four days has seen above-average temperatures.
40
On June 16th, temperatures in the Hérault passed the 40C mark, the earliest date that temperature has been recorded in France. The hottest temperature ever recorded in France was 45.9C, a record that was set in Hérault in 2019.
113
The number of consecutive days in which the temperature in Marseille topped 25C earlier this year.
60
Residents in Nice endured 60 consecutive nights this summer - two months - in which the temperature never went below 20C.
11.67
On June 18th, 2022, the highest officially recorded temperature in France was 36.18C - a whopping 11.67C above normal temperatures for the time of year. On January 1st, temperatures were 5.8C higher than expected.
22.67
The nationwide average temperature in France over the summer months of June, July and August. It’s slightly down on the record 23.1C recorded for the same period in 2003, and makes 2022 the second hottest summer ever recorded in France.
33
Days of heatwave across the country in the summer alone.
30
As we head into November, drought alerts remain in force in 30 departments in France. In the Alpes-Maritimes, water restrictions were recently extended until November 15th. Some departments may extend water restrictions into 2023.
85
July 2022 was the driest ever recorded, with rain levels 85 percent lower than normal. Over the summer, rainfall levels were 25 percent down … and that's including the storms at the end of June.
6
How long, in months, some scientists expect ‘summer’ to last in 2100.
"With global warming, summers are encroaching on autumn and spring," said Christine Berne, climatologist at Météo-France, on BFMTV.com.
Yes, the record-breaking 2022 temperatures are part of the overall trend of a heating planet, say scientists, with the climate crisis causing unusual weather patterns and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events around the globe.
The trend is likely to accelerate, with the city of Paris recently running emergency planning exercises for the day when temperatures in the capital hit 50C.
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The mercury passed 31C in Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) on Thursday. It hit 30C in Biarritz, 29C in Bordeaux, 24C in Nantes - and even rose as high as 22C in Lille, northern France.
October’s temperature highs came hot on the heels of a record-breaking Summer and a very mild Spring.
🌡️ L'indicateur thermique national, c'est-à-dire la T°C moy. enregistrée dans 30 stations météo. réparties sur l'ensemble du territoire est "au-dessus de 17,5°C depuis le 15oct. 10j que l'on est entre 17,5 et 19°C. C'est totalement inédit".
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) October 26, 2022
🗣️@cberne13
📰https://t.co/NKs7Sp2BUk https://t.co/v62eNQKwpg pic.twitter.com/0oFDvXuUsT
Temperatures over the summer may not have smashed the all-time records set in 2019, but overall 2022 was a very warm year.
2
So far this year, with just November and December to go, only two months - January and April - saw average temperatures that climatologists in France consider ‘normal’ or ‘cool’. For the rest of the year, temperatures have been higher than expected.
75
The percentage figure of days with temperatures above seasonal norms in France in 2022. So far this year, three out of every four days has seen above-average temperatures.
40
On June 16th, temperatures in the Hérault passed the 40C mark, the earliest date that temperature has been recorded in France. The hottest temperature ever recorded in France was 45.9C, a record that was set in Hérault in 2019.
113
The number of consecutive days in which the temperature in Marseille topped 25C earlier this year.
60
Residents in Nice endured 60 consecutive nights this summer - two months - in which the temperature never went below 20C.
11.67
On June 18th, 2022, the highest officially recorded temperature in France was 36.18C - a whopping 11.67C above normal temperatures for the time of year. On January 1st, temperatures were 5.8C higher than expected.
22.67
The nationwide average temperature in France over the summer months of June, July and August. It’s slightly down on the record 23.1C recorded for the same period in 2003, and makes 2022 the second hottest summer ever recorded in France.
33
Days of heatwave across the country in the summer alone.
30
As we head into November, drought alerts remain in force in 30 departments in France. In the Alpes-Maritimes, water restrictions were recently extended until November 15th. Some departments may extend water restrictions into 2023.
85
July 2022 was the driest ever recorded, with rain levels 85 percent lower than normal. Over the summer, rainfall levels were 25 percent down … and that's including the storms at the end of June.
6
How long, in months, some scientists expect ‘summer’ to last in 2100.
"With global warming, summers are encroaching on autumn and spring," said Christine Berne, climatologist at Météo-France, on BFMTV.com.
Yes, the record-breaking 2022 temperatures are part of the overall trend of a heating planet, say scientists, with the climate crisis causing unusual weather patterns and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events around the globe.
The trend is likely to accelerate, with the city of Paris recently running emergency planning exercises for the day when temperatures in the capital hit 50C.
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