Forecasters predict another scorching summer in France
Long-range forecasts suggest temperatures 2C above seasonal norms this summer, and the increased likelihood of heatwaves.
France faces the prospect of another long, abnormally hot, and heatwave-filled summer in 2023, according to long-range weather forecasts.
The last eight years have been the hottest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
France last summer faced prolonged heatwave and drought - with the southwest of the country ravaged by wildfires, when 72,000 hectares of land were destroyed by the flames (an area seven times the size of Paris).
In total, across France, 19,711 wildfires were recorded in 2022, while 90 departments - including Morbihan in Brittany and Jura and Isère on the east of the country as well as southern France - recorded a “significant” fire event, meaning the risk of summer fires is no longer confined to the traditional Mediterranean arc.
READ ALSO ‘By a substantial margin’: How summer 2022 was Europe’s hottest on record
And 2023 has started with more weather records, as water tables suffered during 32 days without rain in the wet winter months.
Scientists remain cautious, but the main meteorological models anticipate another hotter than normal summer in France, with some suggesting that temperatures could be as much as 2C above normal between June and October.
Long-term weather models identify trends, and are subject to change because of the difficulty in accurate day-to-day forecasting beyond a few days.
In 2021, July turned out to be cooler and wetter than expected, because the Azores High anti-cyclone did not move east across the Atlantic as forecast.
READ ALSO French summer of 2021 officially the coldest and dampest since 2014
However, despite the cool and wet weather which dampened temperatures from modern norms, summer 2021 was still the 15th warmest since 1900.
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France faces the prospect of another long, abnormally hot, and heatwave-filled summer in 2023, according to long-range weather forecasts.
The last eight years have been the hottest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
France last summer faced prolonged heatwave and drought - with the southwest of the country ravaged by wildfires, when 72,000 hectares of land were destroyed by the flames (an area seven times the size of Paris).
In total, across France, 19,711 wildfires were recorded in 2022, while 90 departments - including Morbihan in Brittany and Jura and Isère on the east of the country as well as southern France - recorded a “significant” fire event, meaning the risk of summer fires is no longer confined to the traditional Mediterranean arc.
READ ALSO ‘By a substantial margin’: How summer 2022 was Europe’s hottest on record
And 2023 has started with more weather records, as water tables suffered during 32 days without rain in the wet winter months.
Scientists remain cautious, but the main meteorological models anticipate another hotter than normal summer in France, with some suggesting that temperatures could be as much as 2C above normal between June and October.
Long-term weather models identify trends, and are subject to change because of the difficulty in accurate day-to-day forecasting beyond a few days.
In 2021, July turned out to be cooler and wetter than expected, because the Azores High anti-cyclone did not move east across the Atlantic as forecast.
READ ALSO French summer of 2021 officially the coldest and dampest since 2014
However, despite the cool and wet weather which dampened temperatures from modern norms, summer 2021 was still the 15th warmest since 1900.
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