Climate

As befits one of the largest countries in Europe, covering 543,965 square km (210,025 square miles) France has a varied climate.

Sitting on Europe’s western edge, the Atlantic influence persists on the western side of the country and brings mild wet winters, early springs and long hot summers.

The chart below illustrates the average range of temperatures at Pau over the last thirty years.

Lowest temperature : -15 degrees centrigrade
Coldest day : 13/02/1956
Highest temperature : 39.9 degrees centrigrade
Hottest day : 01/08/1947
Most rain in 24 hours : 84 mm
Wettest day : 11/05/1993

Conversely, the south east of France is characterised by greater extremes with cold winters giving way to baking summers and violent winds and storms. All in all, our corner of France has the most benign range of temperatures and avoids the extremes.

This year in January and early February the night time temperatures were about 5 – 8 degrees centigrade but by the time the sunrise had faded and the sun had begin to rise in the sky, we enjoyed temperatures of over 20 degrees centigrade. Suffice to say, on 1 February we sat on the sea wall at Biarritz (coatless…) and watched people surfing. Now you need to be a brave creature to do that in Cornwall!

To see the weather forecast, go to http://france.meteofrance.com/