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Climate
Although located entirely within the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, France, due to its geography and the variety of its relief, is at the junction of different climates, each with their own characteristics.
The western front is subject to oceanic climate. Winters are mild and summers are cool. The average temperature of the coldest month varies between 4 °C (Dunkerque, at the northernmost point of the country) to about 8 °C (Île d'Ouessant and Biarritz, the latter being located by the Spanish border). The summers are temperate; the average temperature varies between 17 °C (Ouessant) and 23 °C (Biarritz) north-west to south. Daytime temperatures rarely exceed 32 °C in the heart of summer, except in the interior Southwest. The rain falls year round, although precipitations reach their maximum in autumn. They are generally more violent and intense in the south, mainly in summer, and can take the form of thunderstorms. The Basque region, Normandy and Brittany are the wettest regions of the country, especially the latter which may undergo long periods of rain, causing a sudden cooling of the air at any time of year.
In the northern and central basins, the mitigated oceanic climate remains uniform. Winters are colder than on the coast but also moderated by the ocean air (2 to 5 °C) and summers are slightly warmer (17 to 20 °C), especially during periods of good weather. The oceanic influence is less important as we move inland. Rainfall is frequent (at least 120 days per year) and evenly distributed throughout the year but summer tends to be the wettest season en route to the east.
The climate of south-west, like in the northern and central regions, is a mitigated coastal climate, but warmer as southerner. The winters are cool (4-7 ° C) and summers are hot (19-22 ° C) and stormy. In autumn and winter, the south south-west blowing wind can bring a dry and very warm weather for the season, due to the foehn effect caused by a mild air mass coming from Spain, and crossing the Pyrenees.
The Rhone Valley is one of the French regions where the climate is the most differentiated: in about two hundred kilometers, we go through an oceanic climate to the north with 2.5 °C average in January and 25 °C in July, to a Mediterranean climate heading south, with irregular rainfall (maximum in autumn and spring, summer drier than winter) and averaging 7 °C in winter and 28 °C in July. Episodes of high temperatures occur regularly in summer with peaks at 35 °C.
The mountain ranges are subject to a French mountain climate, which can be very different depending on the massif and the altitude. Where the average winter temperature is below 0 °C (above 600 m in the Vosges, 700 m in the Jura, 900 m in the Massif Central, 600-900 m in the northern Alps, 900 to 1300 m in the Southern Alps and the Pyrenees), the snow falls regularly and lasts over winter. At high altitude, temperatures drop easily below 0 °C but can rise to 20 °C in summer. Jura, sometimes nicknamed the little Siberia, is considered the coldest region of the country (-10 ° C in winter).
The Mediterranean basin has an eponym climate. On the coast, winters are somewhat milder than those of the western front (averaging 8 °C). The summers are hotter and drier (23 °C) than in the rest of France. Inland temperatures are mixed, with colder winters (3-6 °C) and hot summers, for an average temperature of about 30 °C in July-August. This part of the country benefits of the biggest amount of sunshine: from 2400 to 2800 hours per year.
