Unseasonably warm temperatures are sweeping across France, with some areas experiencing conditions more typical of late spring than February. Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales region, reached 23 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, nine degrees above the seasonal average, according to France Télévisions.
The sudden warmth has drawn crowds to beaches and outdoor terraces, a stark contrast to the severe weather experienced just days prior. A couple in Perpignan recounted experiencing both a disruptive storm and the current heatwave within a short period, noting the increasing frequency of such extreme shifts. “It’s quite astonishing, but we are subject to this here. The Pyrenees are like that. Every two or three years, there’s a cycle like this, but not as strong,” they said.
The unusual conditions are not limited to the south of France. Paris could reach 20 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, ten degrees above normal, while Clermont-Ferrand is forecast to see 22 degrees, eleven degrees above average. Biarritz is expected to reach 24 degrees, also ten degrees warmer than usual.
Sébastien Thomas, a meteorologist with France Télévisions, explained that the warm air originates from North Africa. He noted that while southerly winds during winter are common, the increasing warmth of the air mass, driven by climate change, is resulting in unusually mild temperatures. “We have a classic phenomenon in winter, it happens highly regularly that the wind comes from the south. But as our air is getting warmer and warmer, especially at the level of Maghreb, the temperatures are getting milder and milder in France,” Thomas stated.
While the warm spell is expected to be temporary, with temperatures forecast to decline later this week, the event underscores the increasing variability of weather patterns. Across much of Canada, however, temperatures remain significantly below average, with April and May expected to be “cooler than normal,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac. The Almanac also predicts higher-than-normal precipitation for much of western Canada, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador and southeastern Quebec.
