The week promised to be historically hot, Wednesday did not disappoint.
The national thermal indicator reached a record level for January 24.
It corresponds to the average temperature in around thirty reference weather stations over a full day.
As The Weather Channel points out, this indicator reached 12.3°C against a previous record which dated from 1937 with 10.9°C.
Such a gap in records is remarkable and testifies to climate change at work.
For comparison, the normal maximum average values at this time of year, which theoretically corresponds to the coldest time of winter, vary between 6°C in the north of France and 13°C in the south. -east of the country.
🌡️🌡️It is confirmed that yesterday's sweetness was exceptional.
This January 24, 2024 shattered the old record from 1937 (10.9°C) with a national thermal indicator of 12.3°C!
#sweetness #record #France pic.twitter.com/GOKVGUMwkL
— La Chaîne Météo (@lachainemeteo) January 25, 2024
This temperature level went hand in hand with records for the month of January in the south of France, along the Mediterranean.
Météo France thus recorded 22.5°C in Luc in the Var, compared to 22.4°C in 2016. In Montpellier (Hérault), the record was much more widely broken with 22.1°C compared to 21.2° C in 2002. It was 21.2°C in Le Castellet, in the Var, compared to 20.4°C in 2013. In Bouches-du-Rhône, in Arles, and in Gard, in Nîmes and Aigues- Dead, records were also broken.
Yesterday, in the southern half of the country, remarkable mildness for a month of January with records around the Mediterranean.⬇️
Anticyclonic conditions are well anchored, the forecast temperatures remain permanently above seasonal norms until the end of January.
pic.twitter.com/cgoHqgSJO7
— Météo-France (@meteofrance) January 25, 2024
The meteorological organization insists that “such mildness is remarkable for the month of January”.
“But it is not unprecedented to experience temperatures above 20°C in winter,” he also wishes to point out.
The heat will continue in February
This Thursday, other records are possible, in the same regions as those affected on Wednesday.
“The forecast temperatures remain above seasonal norms for a long time until the end of January and probably for the first days of February,” warns Météo France.
In the northern part of the country, however, the temperature will drop from Friday.
Also read Weather: why January also promises to be a warmer month than average
With temperatures remaining more than ten degrees above seasonal averages across a large southern part of the country and after an above-average start to the month, January is expected to become the 24th month in a row to have a balance higher than seasonal values.
The cold period in the middle of the month will not have had a sufficiently marked deviation from the averages to counterbalance this warm trend.